Times Of Swaziland: BUS FARE HIKE LIKELY NEXT WEEK THURSDAY

BUS FARE HIKE LIKELY NEXT WEEK THURSDAY
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Nhlanganiso Mkhonta on 13/04/2022 08:50:00


MBABANE – The proposed bus fare hike is likely to be implemented from next
week Thursday.
Yesterday, the Hhohho Regional Transport Association met with the Ministry of
Public Works and Transport to deliberate on the matter. According to the
association’s chairman Richard Simelane, during the meeting, they agreed on
the E10 for short distances and the rest of the distances relevant percentage
would be added. The public transport operators want the proposed bus fare hike
to be implemented immediately, such that Simelane said as of Thursday, the
ministry would be issuing public notices on the proposed hike and the following
Thursday, a gazette would then be issued as well.
He said the seven-day notice would allow consumers to prepare themselves for the
hike. He said once the gazette was issued, it would mean the commencement of the
hike. Simelane revealed this during a meeting with the public transport workers
and owners yesterday at the Mbabane Bus Rank in the afternoon. He urged the
operators and workers to bear with the association during the process as they
could not do things on their own. According to the public transport workers who
were engaged in a protest yesterday in Mbabane, the hike was long overdue as the
price of fuel had increased four times since they had proposed the hike last
year October.
Ministry
It is worth noting that before meeting with the ministry, some of the public
transport owners had already started making their announcements on the hike,
which would have seen short distances increasing to E13. The owners had even
announced the new prices for other routes starting from Mbabane, such that if
their proposal had passed, travelling from Mbabane to Nhlangano would cost E110.
The owners had even printed out the new price list and were about to distribute
it to the drivers and conductors, but were stopped.