DRAMA AS PUBLIC TRANSPORT REVERTS TO 100% OPERATIONS

MANZINI - There was drama as public transport reverted to normal operations.   

From yesterday, kombi owners, through the Swaziland Local Transport Association (SLTA) reverted to 100 per cent vehicles on the road and 100 per cent carrying capacity. Before that, there were 50 per cent vehicles on the road, which operated at 80 per cent carrying capacity. However, the drivers did not see eye-to-eye with their bosses and the former decided to protest against the changes. Those who operate along Ludzeludze, Mbekelweni and Zombodze routes blocked kombis that were operating and forced the passengers out of the vehicles.
A while later, some of the aggrieved drivers blocked the main road going in and out of Manzini Bus Rank. They put quarry stones on both lanes, next to Mzimnene Shopping Complex, just before the Mzimnene River when going into the city centre.

Commuters

As a result, kombis that were heading towards Manzini Bus Rank were blocked near Mzimnene Shopping Complex and commuters had to alight and walk to the city, something which exposed them to yesterday’s harsh weather conditions. The temperatures reached a maximum of 35 degrees Celsius in Manzini yesterday. Again, commuters who were leaving the city were also affected as the public transport vehicles had to wait for the quarry stones to be removed from the road before they could drive through. This resulted in a traffic jam at the entrance/exit of the bus rank..

However, later on, police officers and members of His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) were deployed at the scene and by the time they arrived; they found that some of the public transport workers, who were against the blocking of the road, were removing the quarry stones. SLTA Manzini Branch Secretary Sabelo Dlamini confirmed the matter. He said the association was approached by its members who asked it to allow operations in the industry to go back to normal. He said their main concern was that since their kombis were parked at filling stations, banks wanted to repossess them as they were failing to service their loans.

Again, Dlamini said the operators argued that there was no written regulation which ordered them to operate with 50 per cent vehicles and at 80 per cent carrying capacity. In the absence of the written regulations, the secretary said the operators asked the association to save their businesses by reverting to normal operations because government was failing to compensate them properly. “They said those who will stop their vehicles from operating, that individual will have to tell them how they will pay them as compensation,” the secretary said.

On another note, Dlamini said they were failing to comprehend why the workers protested after being told that they would be working normally. However, he said they were glad that the situation was resolved and operations continued as expected.

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