Putting kids in the ‘drivers’ seat’ a joy for bus company owner 

Being a bus driver and transporting scores of pupils every morning is more than just a daily routine, overshadowed as it is by the behind-the-scene struggles of the bus industry. Nazeem Dollie, who has been driving for the past 20 years, views it as transporting the leaders of future generations. He reminisces about bumping into adults he recognises as the children he drove to school over the years.

He raves about what they have made of themselves.

“You never know who you’re driving,” he says.

Dollie had always wanted to be in the bus industry. He grew up watching his grandfather and then his father run the bus company, Overland Tours. The company’s buses take children to and from school every day. While shadowing his father on school holidays, he learnt that succeeding in the industry involved taking on other roles, including that of a mechanic.

After matriculating, he decided to study to be a mechanic. But his father had other plans and he got a job under his father’s wing.

“When I saw we had a shortage of bus drivers, I decided to become a driver as well and I fell in love with it!”

Eventually he was handed the keys to the business and he took on various roles, but driving children to school was what he loved the most.

His job came with the added responsibility of supervising the children. This allowed him to interact with them, which was the most satisfying part of his job.

“Every year, I observe each of my passengers navigating their primary and then high school journey, which makes me conscious that I am transporting the future of the country. “The idea that some of them go on to play an important role in society makes me feel like I was one of their teachers,” Dollie reflects.

Over the years, he grew his family business from four buses in the early ’90s to 25 buses today. He has become an integral part of the industry and is the South African Bus Operators Association (SABOA) Western Cape provincial chairperson.

In this role, he participates in “information sharing” with his fellow industry players. He says the industry has changed significantly and so has their workplace: the roads. One major difference was that there are more cars on the roads now.

Although he could not pinpoint whether drivers had become better or worse, there is room for improvement, which is what he is working towards through SABOA.

“When I am interviewing drivers, I always take them out driving to teach them good habits of the road.

“I realised that it benefits the business because if they learn how to drive properly, the buses last longer and we spend less on maintenance.

“This is a tough job and industry but honestly, it is also satisfying to see the children growing under your watch and to have some parents express their gratitude for the role we play in their lives,” said Dollie.

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