Great North Transport (GNT) recently re-introduced cross-border services with routes between Burgersfort and Harare.
The last week of November signalled this re-entry into this market with the first trip leaving for Harare. This trip, according to commuters that travelled on the bus, heralded good news for Zimbabwean nationals since GNT buses are seen as reliable for travel from Limpopo to Harare without risk of breakdowns.
“The commuter bus company, a subsidiary of Limpopo Development Agency endeavours to remain the key economic enabler through facilitation of passenger ty to different destination, not only in Limpopo Province, but across Mpumalanga and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region,” Johannes Monkoe, Spokesperson for GNT informed.
The re-entry into Zimbabwe is seen by management not only in services expansion terms, but as well as part of regional economic integration imperatives reflected in the Limpopo Development Plan. “The Burgersfort to Harare route is very important to GNT in terms of taking the brand across the border, but also provide the company with an opportunity to diversify its operations into related services. Our focus, derived from our strategic plan, is to have a daily service to ensure that passengers travelling from Limpopo to Harare via Maswingo can have reliable transport at affordable prices’ GNT Chief Executive Officer, Sandile Keswa explained.
He added that Limpopo is home to agriculture, mining and other sectors that absorb migrant workers from the SADC in both primary and secondary activities. “It is estimated that Limpopo is home to 1,7 million Zimbabwean nationals working on farming establishments in the main, with other sectors also taking a share of their labour force. It is on that basis that travelling between Limpopo and Harare is frequent as these migrant workers visit their homes from time to time.”
“Currently the 80-seater bus leaves on Friday afternoons. Our intention is to have two buses criss-crossing the border on a daily basis,” Keswa concluded.
Story: NELIE ERASMUS
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Featured photo: Great North Transport’s 80-seater bus with which they provide a regular shuttle service for migrant workers from Limpopo to Harare, Zimbabwe.
