Pretoria – Bus company, Public Utility Transport Corporation (Putco) says it will not be providing services, starting today, due to fuel shortages.
Putco spokesperson Lindokuhle Xulu said the company had been severely affected by unpaid March subsidy claims by the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport.
“Putco regrets to inform passengers that the company will not be able to carry out its bus service from 4 May, 2023, until further notice due to diesel shortages. The disruption is as a result of unpaid March subsidy claims by the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport,” Xulu said.
“Putco is working closely with government to ensure that payments are processed as soon as possible to avoid a prolonged service disruption as well as inconvenience to our valued passengers.
“Should the situation improve, stakeholders will be informed timeously. The underfunding of the bus public transport industry as well as the excessive fuel increases in the past few months have exacerbated the situation,” he said.
Xulu said the relief that the bus industry requested has not been granted, “leaving bus operators in a very difficult situation”.
In March, Putco said it had temporarily suspended some of its buses due to intimidation, amid the national shutdown by the EFF.
“Our staff buses were the first to encounter blocked roads and intimidation from demonstrators taking part in the national shutdown protest as they attempted to collect bus drivers aiming to report for duty in the early hours of Monday morning, 20 March, 2023,” Xulu said.
IOL