Gautrain recently suspended its buses after the company failed to renew the licence discs for its “unroadworthy” fleet, insiders claim.
As a result, the Gautrain buses have allegedly been endangering the lives of both passengers and its employees.
This is according to Gautrain drivers who spoke to Sunday World on condition of anonymity. They asked to remain anonymous because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
Source says company management knew
The sources alleged that the management of the state-owned entity was aware that the licence discs expired in 2022. Yet it forced workers to continue transporting thousands of commuters nonetheless, the source added.
One deepthroat told this publication that the suspension was long overdue. They alleged Gautrain management did not care about passenger safety.
“This should have happened in 2022 when they failed to renew the discs. Instead, people are chasing money at the expense of lives.
“This is not new to Gautrain bus workers; they all knew it. It was communicated to the management. However, it ended up being a worker issue. It was a safety concern for many workers, but there was nothing that they could do,” they said.
Drivers were forced to work despite these problems
“Some of these buses never had a permit, and that would frustrate the workers, but they are forced to work despite all these issues. Since these buses were legally prohibited from operating, if someone died in an accident on one, their policies would be void,” he added.
Kesagee Nayager, a spokesperson for Gautrain, stated: “There hasn’t been a single bus seen on the road in Johannesburg since the Gautrain bus services were discontinued two days ago.”
On Wednesday, when Sunday World visited the Sandton station, commuters were using e-hailing services to get to their destinations.
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