POLOKWANE – There were fortunately no casualties reported as passengers managed to escape via emergency doors and windows from the fire which apparently started in the front of the moving bus.
You may also want to read: No casualties after bus catches fire
In March 2016, 10 people died and 39 were injured near Tzaneen after a GNT bus crashed following an apparent failure of its brakes. After this incident, the Department of Transport was forced to conduct a roadworthy examination of the GNT’s 56-bus fleet, most of them had worn tyres and dysfunctional brake systems.
The DA is concerned that nothing was done to pull unroadworthy vehicles from the road. “We urge MEC Ndalani to make roadworthiness examinations a regular exercise for all GNT buses and to remove any unroadworthy vehicles,” a statement from the DA read.
The DA is committed to monitor the full implementation of regular roadworthy tests and the subsequent impounding of all vehicles that do not conform to the requisite standards of public safety.
You may also want to read: Bus fire still under investigation – GNT management
Patrick Monkoe, the Marketing and Communications Manager at GNT, said the statement of the DA is unfortunate. He said the statement implies the company and law enforcement is not doing their work.
“We check all our buses when they come in and go out to make sure they are on par and meet all the requirements. Law enforcement can be found all along our routes and buses that are not safe are taken off the road. We make sure that we hold up our end and make sure passengers are safe when traveling with us,” Monkoe said.
He added as the buses of GNT travel in mostly rural areas the buses need to be checked when coming back and going out as the gravel roads take their toll on a bus.
“Things will break, things like globes never last because of the roads the buses travel and there may be isolated incidents because of damage of the roads travelled,” he added.
He said that even though the company is state-owned, they are always mindful of the need they meet when it comes to transporting people from the one point to the other.
