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50% PUBLIC TRANSPORT FARE HIKE ON THE CARDS

13/03/2014 02:13:00 BY SIBONGILE SUKATI

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The Mbabane bus rank.

LOBAMBA – Commuters will soon feel the pinch of a 50 per cent hike in public transport fares. This follows the tabling of the Maximum Bus and Taxi Fares (Amendment) Regulations, 2014 by the minister of Public Works and Transport in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Members of Parliament are expected to debate and approve the amended regulations before they are implemented into law.
The last time public transport fares were increased was in 2007 with the introduction of Legal Notice 124 of 2007 and they are expected to be substituted with the new schedules after being adopted by Parliamentarians.

According to the new regulations the maximum fares for the conveyance of passengers by means of a bus will be E6.00 for a journey up to 8km and for an excess of 8km charge at 60 cents per kilometre.
One of the main routes, Mbabane to Manzini, will now cost commuters E25.80 as opposed to E17.20 which had been the old gazetted fee although public transport owners had given a leeway to charge E15.

The increase also includes that of taxi fares which are also expected to go up.
Short distances that had previously been E4 on a bus or kombi will, according to the proposal, be E6 while for taxis the short distance which was charged at E28 will now be E32.

The local public transport operators had for a while been asking government for a review in the public transport fares, stating that with the cost of fuel increasing and the price for spare parts also on the increase, there was a need for the fares to go up.

However, government had previously been able to stall this until the tabling of the new regulations which were tabled by Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development Mduduzi Dlamini as the substantive Minister, Lindiwe Dlamini, was not in Parliament yesterday.

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Comments (23 posted):

Jabza on 13/03/2014 07:08:52

Its a pity that we see bus fares hike but salaries lutho, where are we going to get the money from. At first was petrol en now busfares yoooh dis a double blow to us both pedestrians and car owners!

bongza on 13/03/2014 08:36:09

what about our salaries ,you still not talking about it .please talk about it and then increase the bus fares.

Hlubie3 on 13/03/2014 09:27:32

Yeah sekuyacaca kutsi vele lakangwane nawuliphuya utawphuya uze uyofa,now we are facing more expense than we earn,everything is hiking,bread elctricity bus fairs,and VAT being the last atom distroyer.comes to wages still constant, our is painful coz we wont even meet the 2022 living status.

Vumile on 13/03/2014 09:37:51

Kunyuka konkhe ngaphandle kwema salaries...

Njabu on 13/03/2014 09:38:40

This is so unfair!!!

mafisto on 13/03/2014 10:02:53

yini vele lokutsi kwenyuke ngenhlanye

sabelo on 13/03/2014 10:37:04

yoh hulumende ubaMbe inhloko SRA ubambe tinyawo.silamuleleni bo.

sbu on 13/03/2014 10:37:29

This is not fair to the ordinary citizen ,the poor seriously. Ibuhlungu lentfo lesentiwa yona la, no salary increments, no jobs & high unemployment rate but you have the guts to increase ema bus fair,nobe ngabe sekunjalo 50% pho Minister?.This Government find pleasure kubona bantfu bahlupheka sekubonakele.

cuselimhlophe on 13/03/2014 10:40:41

bus fare can hike that is expected at the rate at which the economy has not been stable for sometime now. i have but 1 major cry, can public transport stop overloading. if we pay the proposed amount then we must be comfortable even during the ride. what is the point of paying almost 36 rands when you are going to be squeezed like a sack of potatoes.

sihle on 13/03/2014 10:50:12

This is not good at all because our salaries solo emile ,where we will get that extra cash? kahleni bo 50%is too much for our living standards this days. Ngafane kwehle le %