Operations at the state-subsidised commuter bus company Putco have gone back to normal after the department of roads and transport in Gauteng processed the company’s payment.
This after the suspension of bus operations on Thursday due to diesel shortages as a result of the department delaying to process the payment.
Speaking to Sunday World on Friday, Putco spokesperson Lindokuhle Xulu said the company has since received the March subsidy payment.
“Buses were fully operational on Friday morning and we are expecting the same in the afternoon,” said Xulu.
“I can confirm that we have been paid and have paid the service providers. We want to also appreciate the patience of our commuters and apologise for the inconvenience this has caused them.”
Xulu further commended the intervention of the provincial government, led by premier Panyaza Lesufi, which helped find a speedy solution to ensure that buses were back on the road on Friday morning.
More than 230 000 passengers were left stranded when the company halted its operations on Thursday due to a diesel shortages. Putco operates a fleet of 1 400 buses mainly in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West.
The suspension of operations on Thursday came barely three weeks after the bus sector signed a 7% pay increase deal for the 35 000 workers employed in the industry in April.
After high-level talks on Thursday, Putco MD Franco Pisapia told the media that the bus company did not have enough money because of long-term “underfunding” of contracts entered into with the provincial government.
Lesufi acknowledged challenges facing the sector and made an undertaking that the issue will be resolved.
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