Business rescue for Rea Vaya bus service – but ‘don’t panic’

Rea Vaya commuters are urged to remain calm after the company was placed under business rescue last week, with Johannesburg transport MMC Kenny Kunene insisting that everything was fine.

A fuel supply firm and vehicle repair outlet that is allegedly owed more than R500 000 by the bus operator successfully applied for it to be placed under business rescue.

Creditors approach the Johannesburg High Court

The creditors approached the High Court in Johannesburg, which agreed for the business rescue to go ahead, following alleged mismanagement and maladministration.

Business rescue practitioner Mahier Tayob has subsequently dissolved the board of Rea Vaya.

Speaking to The Citizen, Kunene said the buses would still be on the road and he wanted to send a strong message to the residents of Johannesburg, especially those who used Rea Vaya, that they need not worry.

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This move was going to result in more buses on the road.

“Nothing is going to change,” he said. “They must not be alarmed, the operations of Rea Vaya are still there.”

He said for the business rescue practitioner, dissolving the board was a matter of procedure and process.

“The business rescue practitioner takes full control of the company, so the board gets dissolved.

“It is like in the municipality, when an administrator is appointed, the city manager and the mayoral committee gets dissolved.

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“This does not affect the running of the company,” he said.

‘Don’t panic’

While Rea Vaya was in business rescue, the buses would be Business rescue for Rea Vaya bus service – but ‘don’t panic’ on the road and salaries would be paid.

“The only difference is that there is no board, there is no CEO (chief executive) – the business rescue practitioner takes over the administration of the company with the goal to get the company to be able to be function.”

Kunene said the company had started renovating some of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) stations and was rebuilding those that had been vandalised.

“We are putting technology in the BRT stations; we are developing applications where commuters will be able to see how far away the bus is, when will it arrive so that they do not have to wait too long,” he said.

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“We are bringing back the glory of the BRT to where it started so that there is a smooth running.

“I’ve already started implementing this in my administration. Companies have been appointed and they are busy working, and we will be introducing new things,” Kunene said.

“At Metro Bus, we have installed Wi-Fi on the buses, we are installing cameras on the buses – we call them eyes on the bus, so we can deal with criminality.

“We are turning public transport in the city into smart mobility.”

Situation with Rea Vaya was ‘concerning’

Gauteng provincial transport spokesperson Lesiba Mpya said the current situation with Rea Vaya was concerning for them, even though Rea Vaya was a subsidiary of the City of Joburg.

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Mpya said the leadership of the city was supposed to be responsive to its constituents.

“Our main concern is the commuters that are going to be inconvenienced.

“Fortunately, this is happening when there is least need for this service because of the December break.

“Our concern is that if it perpetuates towards January, when factories open up, passengers are going to be disadvantaged. We are calling on the city to speedily address this.”