Kgatleng bus operators go on strike

Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday May 18, 2017 10:33

 

Route manager, Alfred Kooitsiwe told Mmegi that operators were incensed with the rising number of pirate vehicles on the Kgatleng route. He said their efforts to engage the police to help curb the piracy had fallen flat and operators had decided to take the take the law into their own hands.

On Monday, pirate taxis’ windows were smashed in a commotion in which four bus operators were apprehended by Borakanelo police station officers. Kooitsiwe said the operators were later released the same night. “We are concerned about the mushrooming of private cars that pirate on our route. Most of those cars carry eight people, which means they make P80 per load.

“Those cars range from Ipsum, Honda Fit, Toyota Wism, Toyota Vits and others. Our efforts to get help from the Mochudi police station and the Department of Transport have run futile as we believe that some of those cars belong to them,” he said.

Kooitsiwe estimated that at least 247 pirate cars were operating in the Kgatleng route, adding that a poor relationship between taxi operators, the Transport Department and the police had created a loophole for pirates to do as they pleased.

“We make barely P500 per day, while those guys make about P800 or more per day. Our buses carry more than 60 people per load yet we are making peanuts. We are losing a lot of money to those pirates. To run a bus or taxi business is expensive.

“We have to pay PSV, vehicle licence, roadworthiness testing and insurance which are costly to us. How are we expected to pay those things when we don’t make much money? We are not making profits but rather we are working at a loss,” he said.

According to Kooitsiwe, most of the pirates migrated away from Lobatse and Molepolole where the police and transport officials in those areas installed permanent roadblocks and clamped down on piracy. “These pirates rank in our routes as they like because according to the law, it is not a crime to transport passengers. It becomes a crime when you receive money from your passengers,” he said.

Borakanelo police station commander, Superintendent Mothusi Phadi said he was aware of piracy in areas such as Mochudi, Rasesa and the surrounding villages. He also confirmed that on Monday evening the police received a complaint from a man who alleged that his car had been vandalised by bus operators.

“Today (Tuesday) in the morning, we arrested a bus operator who is believed to have vandalised that particular car. He is still in police custody and is helping us with the investigations,” he said.

Phadi said thus far this year, police had registered 86 cases of piracy along the Kgatleng routes. “For quiet some time we have been receiving complaints from bus and mini-bus operators who have shown great concern over the increasing rate of piracy on their routes. “We have so far charged 86 people in relation with the matter. They have been charged between P200 and P400 which are the maximum charges for this offence,” he said.

Phadi explained that when a person has been charged with piracy more than four times, they could be dragged to Court and be sentenced to a jail term not exceeding six months.