It’s only E1 to go to Mahwalala

MBABANE – With the high competition between kombi and bus operators at the Mbabane bus rank, the latter is now charging only E1 to Mahwalala yet the official price is E4.

Some of the interviewed bus operators who, however spoke on condition of anonymity in fear of victimisation by their colleagues, said the cost of living was now high and there were too many kombis trading between Mbabane and Mahwalala at the same time.

“As you can see, the commuters, especially in the evenings prefer to board the kombis because they are cheap, so we have no choice but to also lower our fares,” narrated a bus operator.
A bus driver said they had come to this point in order to get customers because they were losing them due to high competition with the kombis.

When asked if that would not spark controversy, the transport operators said at some point they quarreled but everyone had to understand the situation, “Should you relax, you will find yourself with nothing at the end of the day,” said one of the operators.
The operators admitted that slashing the fares was not entirely the solution but they were left with no choice.
Some of the commuters who were interviewed said they see nothing wrong with the competition, instead it helped them save money.

“I have got nothing to do with the changes because they are competing on their own and to us that has brought more relief,” said a commuter.
 The commuter added that they could be happy if the competition could continue because it enabled them to save money.
 “The escalating prices are a strain to us but now that they are having stiff competition, they have slashed the prices, let them continue like this,” said the commuter.

When sought, Swaziland Commercial Road Transportation Association (SCARTA) Ambrose Dlamini said they were yet to launch a probe into the matter.
“To be precise, in Mbabane we have a regional branch of SCARTA which addresses matters arising from operators,” he said.
With regards to the gazette, Dlamini said the charges were similar and that there was no special treatment for kombis and buses.