Cape Town — The Rea Vaya bus services are still suspended until the .bus company and the taxi association are able to come to an agreement.
Rea Vaya decided to suspend services on Monday afternoon, which has since extended into Tuesday. Taking to X, the service company revealed that services remained suspended until MMC for Transport, Kenny Kunene met with relevant parties.
“Rea Vaya buses remain suspended until further notice. MMC for Transport, Cllr Kenny Kunene will be meeting the public transport operators today to resolve the cause of the problem,” Rea Vaya posted on X.
Rea Vaya buses remain suspended until further notice. MMC for Transport, Cllr Kenny Kunene will be meeting the public transport operators today to resolve the cause of the problem. We apologise to passengers for lack of service.
— Rea Vaya Bus Transit (@ReaVayaBus) November 5, 2024
According to The Citizen, Rea Vaya explained that “transport stakeholders” were upset about feeder routes, and only last week did Kunene announce that 45 new buses would operate along routes in Soweto.
However, the National Taxi Alliance (NTA) said the news buses were rolled out without proper consultation and used registrations from outside Gauteng. It explained that Kunene did not inform the structures and services will remain suspended until further notice.
“All these issues must be corrected and proper channels be followed before operations can be considered brought back to full swing,” NTA spokesperson, Theo Malele, said.
The BRP for Piotrans, myself and all chairpersons of Taxi associations in Soweto will have a meeting at 11am today to discuss the @ReaVayaBus interruptions. The public will be briefed after the meeting. Salute
— Kenny Kunene (@Kenny_T_Kunene) November 5, 2024
The suspension of Rea Vaya’s services has left many citizens stranded. While it remains unclear as to when the dispute between the two parties will come to an end, residents have now been forced to find alternate routes for work. SABC News reported.
Thokoza Park resident, Nkululeko Ndlovu says he is now forced to use a taxi to get to work.
“I am really frustrated because I normally buy a tag and now I have to take extra money for a taxi so now it’s a mess, I don’t want to lie. The same taxi operators they have been doing this ever since BRT started and now, I have no choice but to take a taxi to work and when I get to where I work, I have to walk about 3km because the taxi only goes to Bree. So now it is very inconvenient,” he said.
Meanwhile, street vendors in the area say they are losing business.
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Picture: X/@ReaVayaBus
https://x.com/ReaVayaBus/status/1795464824106746306/photo/1
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
