According to Kinross residents who use Megabus as a mode of transport to and from work, December is their third month without transport.
This is due to Megabus and Vukta disagreements.
Passengers alleged that Vukta taxi operators stopped the buses and instructed them to get off.
“They did not tell the reason for us not to use the buses and because we are afraid of them, we got off the buses several times until we decided to use taxis,” said one of the passenger who further mentioned that she is now using more money to go to work.
Seskhona Media contacted Megabus for a comment and Mr Mnguni confirmed that they are not transporting passengers from Kinross.
“After we were informed that passengers were ordered to get off the bus, we continued to send our buses for a week until we decided to withdraw them to avoid putting our drivers in danger.
According to Mr Mnguni, they do not know the reason behind the prevention of passengers to uses buses.
“We did send a letter to Vukta requesting for a meeting, but Vukta is not coming to the party.
Vukta Chairperson, Mr Fanyana Sibanyoni was also contacted and insisted that Megabus knows the problem.
“Megabus transport passengers for free while our taxis are idling without work.
They do not have enough inspectors and as such people use the buses without tickets,” said Mr Sibanyoni who also mentioned that they once had a meeting with Megabus and when we raised the issue, they provided our operators with reflector vests and gave them permission to check the tickets.
According to Vukta the solution will only be reached when Megabus have enough inspectors to check the tickets.
When informed that passengers complain that they use more money on taxis than buses, Mr Sibanyoni said their business is also suffering when people travel for free with buses.
“Megabus do not lose because they have subsidies and they also have contracts with Sasol.
What about the taxi owners who rely on passengers money only,” added Mr Sibanyoni.
Seskhona Media also contacted the Provincial Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport to find out why they are not resolving the issue.
We also wanted to know from the department if the rights of passengers and being trampled on.
Passengers also have the right to choose which transport they prefer and the right to be transported safely.
The department acknowledged the request for a comment and promised to respond.
We gave them a week to respond, but they did not respond.