Rea Vaya bus services suspended until further notice, Kunene to mediate

Rea Vaya bus services will remain suspended until the company and taxi associations see eye-to-eye.

The public bus operators have capitulated to taxi rivals who have been unhappy with the expansion of the service’s fleet.

Services were suspended on Monday afternoon, with the abandonment of passengers extending into Tuesday morning.

Transport MMC to mediate

The City of Johannesburg MMC for Transport Kenny Kunene will attempt to help the parties find a solution on Tuesday.

The bus service operator notified passengers via social media on Tuesday morning.

“Rea Vaya buses remain suspended until further notice. MMC for Transport, Cllr Kenny Kunene will be meeting the public transport operators today to resolve the cause of the problem,” Rea Vaya posted on X.

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On Monday afternoon, Rea Vaya explained that “transport stakeholders” were upset about feeder routes.

Just last week, MMC Kunene unveiled 45 new Rea Vaya buses that would operate on routes throughout Soweto.

Taxi association standoff

National Taxi Alliance (NTA) spokesperson Theo Malele said the new buses were rolled out without proper consultation and use registrations from outside Gauteng.

“The office of the MMC Kenny Kunene did not inform even the structures. Until they get their ducks in a row, operations will not resume until further notice. 

“All these issues must be corrected and proper channels be followed before operations can be considered brought back to full swing.”

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Malele criticized the move by Piotrans, calling it a disrespect to the law and undermining the leadership of the taxi industry

“How can KZN registration work in Gauteng province, and no consultations were made with the taxi industry.

And if those buses have operating licenses, how could they have been issued with operating licenses in Gauteng still bearing with these KZN registration numbers?

And even when the tax industry itself is struggling to get its licenses issued.”

Clouds over procurement

The new feeder buses were acquired through a business deal with Kwazulu-Natal taxi tycoon Mandla Gcaba.

The deal was part of the turnaround strategy which has been marred by labour disputes, fraud, mismanagement, and maladministration, ultimately resulting in the company being placed under business rescue due to mounting debts.

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