Metrobus passengers to be credited for trips lost to strike

The Johannesburg Metrobus service has promised commuters will be credited for trips they were unable to take and were forfeited because of the ongoing bus strike starting on 10 May.

Metrobus spokesperson Goodwill Shivuri assured commuters they would not lose a cent from their tags.

“Due to the process of allocating bus fares to individuals being a long and tedious one, the commuters’ trips will be  credited,” said Shivuri.

“For example, if you purchased 44 trips for R600, to claim the R600 back as cash would take time and involve paperwork because the central account is with the city of Joburg. With that in mind, what we will do is to credit the trips that were lost.”

He said an alternative way to reimburse commuters would be for buses to operate for free for a limited period of time.

“Our strategy will be refined as soon as we conclude the strike,” he said.

Shivuri said they would communicate with customers about the Metrobus measures “once the strike is over”.

Angry Ernie Clark, approached Saturday Citizen to express his concerns about having to spend money on taxi fares when he already had a loaded bus tag.

Shivuri added the metro bus department had no say in the fee increase implemented in the recent Joburg budget.

“Prices usually go up on 1 July for Bus Rapid Transit. It was a council decision and not a Metrobus decision. The budget speech indicated a hike of 4.9% which will affect every municipal service on 1 July,” he said.

Dion Makura, Democratic Municipal and Allied Workers Union of South Africa deputy general secretary, said  commuters should have been warned by Metrobus before they purchased new tags.

“We sent our notice of the strike to Metrobus on 10 March to announce the strike starting on 3 May, so Metrobus had almost two months to warn commuters,” he said.

The Joburg Metrobus service released a statement this week saying the strike was being handled in court.

asandam@citizen.co.za