“They told us there will be a new bus in two hours, in five hours but we are still here,” said Miriam Garura. Passengers, who paid R1,000 for their tickets, did not anticipate having to spend extra money on food and water for longer than the three-day trip.
Garura has already used all the money she budgeted for her trip on airtime to contact the bus company. She and the rest of the group were left by the side of the road for several days with no shelter or access to toilets and food, except at the petrol station nearby. Among the group are three small children and a pregnant woman, in addition to passengers who are ill and who have run out of their medication.
While Khaya Buses first failed to provide safe and reliable transportation to their customers, they are now failing to provide any information on when a new bus will be provided and they refuse to provide a full refund for the cost of the trip. When reached for comment, a Khaya representative said they were looking for a new bus. When asked why it was taking so many days he replied “I’m not sure.”
“The simple message is don’t use Khaya Buses,” said Braam Hanekom, head of PASSOP, (People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty). “The bus company has an obligation to transport its passengers safely, but in this case they are exploiting their passengers by putting them in buses that are not safe.
When the traffic department intervened to ensure the safety of the travellers, the bus company left them stranded.”
Post published in: News