WHY WERE BUS FARES HIKED BEFORE COLA? - PUBLIC

MANZINI - Why was the bus fare hike implemented without first giving the cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA) to civil servants? 

This is the question that members of the public wish could be answered following the shocking bus fare hikes. This publication reported yesterday how commuters woke up to a shocking increment of over 50 per cent in bus fares which saw them (commuters) being charged extra money than what they were accustomed to. It was later gathered that the hikes were effected based on a 2015 gazette and that they had nothing to do with the agreement that was reached between government and the National Road Transport Council recently. One of the commuters interviewed, Alfred Mabuza, said he wondered if the interests of the public, mainly civil servants, were considered.

He said as commuters, they were aggrieved by the hikes because a majority of them came from families whose breadwinners were civil servants.  “I fully understand that the bus fare hike was long overdue since it was supposed to be implemented in 2015, however, I am of the view that the CoLA should have been given priority as it would have allowed us to cope with the bus fare hike,” he said. 

Burdensome

Furthermore, Mabuza also pointed out that the bus fare hike would be burdensome for them following that a majority of them were unemployed, given that there was a high rate of unemployment in the country. Another commuter, who was only indentified as LaNkhosi, said it would be extremely difficult for them to commute given the high rate of unemployment in the country versus the new hikes. Another member of the public, who preferred to comment on condition of anonymity, said government was not considerate of their financial state as commuters when approving the bus fare hike. Khobisile Maseko, a commuter who is visually impaired, said the bus fare hike would be a hard pill to swallow for them as people with disabilities. This, she said, was because local kombis charged them a fee whenever they boarded them, unlike some buses which sometimes spared them from paying.  “We are advocating for the government to pass a Bill that would spare people with disabilities from paying a fee when they are on board either buses or kombis,” she said.

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