Photo by Neo Sithole.
6 August 2014
A new organization called Public Transport Voice has launched itself at the offices of the Treatment Action Campaign, Khayelitsha. The organisation plans to educate people through workshops about the transport system and how it works. It also aims to conduct training for taxi drivers on how to conduct themselves appropriately to customers.
According to Zingisani Nkanjeni, who is the co-founder of the organization, the non-profit will advocate for safe, affordable and accountable public transport for people in the townships.
“We want to go to the different communities, first in Khayelitsha, and educate people about the legal structures, budgets of companies and passengers’ rights,” he says.
Nkanjeni says that people have many complaints about the transport system in Khayelitsha and they do not know who to report it too.
“The organization will play a role of giving people information that will benefit them and try to better the transport system in their communities.”
Nkanjeni said that people who use public transport are sometimes dismissed from work due to being late.
Xolani Ntonjana from Makhaya claims that he missed a job interview because a train from Khayelitsha to Cape Town station got stuck for more than 20 minutes and he had no other means of getting to the interview on time.
Lindelani Mapalane claims that he was late for a university exam because Golden Arrow buses were delayed and he was not given another chance to write his test again.
“I do not understand why we, who stay in townships, always lack things. A simple thing like transportation is essential because we go look for jobs and go to school.”, says Mapalane.
Nkanjeni claims that Golden Arrow buses that operates from Cape Town to Khayelitsha have a different time schedule to buses operating from Cape Town to the suburbs.
“In Cape Town station you find buses going to Retreat every 10 minutes but buses to Khayelitsha leave every 20 to 45 minutes. And most times people have to stand in long queues waiting for buses,” he says.
Spokesperson for Golden Arrow Brownen Dykes responded that most of Golden Arrow’s busses are allocated for Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain. She said that Khayelitsha is big and it has busses going to different places like Makhaza, Harare and Village 3 among other places. Retreat is the only bus with one route.
“We have a contract with government, so government tells us how buses should be allocated. But if people have a problem there is a passenger forum process that they should follow,” she says.
Nkanjeni also said the MyCiTi bus which was recently launched in Khayelitsha to improve the transport system was not introduced in an appropriate way.
“The city should have engaged with different communities to educate them about the bus routes and how it will operate. Instead, the City engaged only with taxi drivers and sidelined community members,” he says.
Nkanjeni said that government shouldn’t only invest money and leave it at that. “There should be proper monitoring. For instance all the bus-stops of the MyCiti bus are not complete. I believe if the community was involved from the beginning things would have been different,” says Nkanjeni.
Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport for the City, said that the allegation made by Nkanjeni are not true.
“Unfortunately it seems that the Public Transport Voice organisation has started off on the wrong footing. A thorough understanding of the facts should always be the departure point for anyone who wishes to make a useful contribution to the public discourse. Either the Public Transport Voice – through sheer sloppiness – has not bothered to verify the facts about the MyCiTi N2 Express service before their launch, or they are simply not interested in the facts because they do not align with their political agenda”, he says.
Herron said there were three public participation meetings in Mitchells Plain and three in Khayelitsha in May 2014 and the City hosted interactive information sessions in June about the time schedules and fees of the N2 Express service.
“The public participation process was complemented by comprehensive information sessions at subcouncil meetings, personal engagements with ward councillors, development forums and ward committees to ensure that the community is informed about the MyCiTi service,” he said.
But commuters such as Luzoko Skweyiya, who uses public transport everyday, hope that Public Transport Voice will keep pressure on the transport companies to improve their services to the township.