100 KOMBIS SCRAPPED, WORKERS HALT OPERATIONS

MBABANE – The scrapping of close to 100 unroadworthy public transport vehicles has created hostility at the Mbabane Bus Rank.

The local kombis were removed from the road by public transport inspectors during an operation which began on Monday and had to be immediately suspended, following that public transport workers staged a protest halting operations at the capital city’s bus terminus. Operations came to a halt after public transport workers blocked the entrance and exit points at the bus rank, rendering commuters stranded yesterday afternoon. This happened for close to 30 minutes as police officers tried reasoning with the workers who were demanding that their kombis be allowed to operate and return to their different routes.

Complained

Among other things, the public transport workers complained that the terrible road conditions were damaging their vehicles, hence the reason for them being unroadworthy. Addressing the Acting Regional Commander Simangele Motsa and Station Commander Superintendent Sabelo Dlamini, rank marshal Jabulani Dlamini, said government needed to attend to the roads before rendering their vehicles unroadworthy. Dlamini said the charges faced by the kombi drivers should be dropped and they should be given back their documents until the roads in the country were fixed by government. He said they were not against cars being examined, but due to the condition of the roads, the public transport examiners should not fine the operators after rendering their vehicles unfit. Instead, they stated that they should allow the operators to fix the problems that had been pointed out on the motor vehicle.

In response, the police chiefs stated that what was raised by the public transport workers needed to be negotiated with the public transport examiner. They said they (public transport workers) could not make conditions at this point but should engage first the examiners and voice out their concerns. This, they said, was because the motor vehicles had been found defective. However, the police officers stated that they would negotiate for the return of the driver’s licences and permits as the operators attended to their motor vehicles.

 Meeting

The police officers said they would be meeting with the public transport inspectors to try and resolve the matter. Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni, said examiners did nothing wrong as they were doing their duty to examine public transport vehicles. Mnguni said all those who had been found on the wrong were charged. She said police could not allow public transport that was unroadworthy because by doing so they placed the lives of the commuters at risk. She said another meeting would be held with public transport vehicle owners to try and find a way forward.

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