RESIDENTS in the South of Johannesburg are frustrated by the metro buses which are supposed to help them commute between home and work.
Margaret Fraser (62), who cannot walk to the Glen Shopping Centre to catch a taxi every time the buses disappoint her, said she relies on the buses, which drive past her Oakdene home, to go to work. However, sometimes no buses arrive. According to Fraser, it feels as if the buses have been taken off the routes without any explanation to the commuters.
After receiving numerous complaints, the Southern COURIER spoke to the Metrobus spokesperson, Esther Dreyer, who said: “I referred a complaint to Village Main Depot, which is responsible for buses in Townsview, Oakdene and Rosettenville. They will attend to the matter and do their utmost to operate these trips. Please note that these trips have not been removed permanently but were not operational due to operational issues, such as drivers being on leave and so forth. But it will be corrected as soon as possible.”
Another disappointed customer, Gugu Taliwe, said: “We are facing a lot of challenges with regards to their poor service delivery. As commuters, we had a meeting on June 14 and raised and identified our grievances collectively. Seven commuters were elected to address the issues raised to Metrobus officials. The meeting was then arranged with Metrobus which took place on July 8 in their Braamfontein Offices. They have responded to some of the issues but not all.”
Recently the buses were back on the routes but Fraser told the COURIER, on Tuesday, September 8, that although buses are back on the routes, they are still not reliable. “One week they are here and the next week they are missing. People got desperate and started making other arrangements because they feared losing their jobs as the buses do not show up or get you to work late. People do not want to risk waiting for another bus, they rather squeeze themselves into an already packed bus. I pity those bus drivers because they get into trouble when the buses are loaded like that. And the buses are in such a disrepair, this one time the bus broke down as it could not ride up hill, I had to alight and walk home.”
