Commuters are fed-up with what they describe as shoddy service from the local bus company, Mabirimisa Bus Company, and demand that the company's operations be halted on the routes from the Nzhelele area to Louis Trichardt town.
Protesters closed the roads off on Thursday (10 November), preventing the bus company from operating for the day. They complain that the buses are unreliable, putting many commuters' jobs at risk because they are either arriving late for work, or not making it to work at all. They also claim that the buses are unroadworthy and unsafe, thereby putting everyone's lives at risk.
The commuters said that they have had several meetings with the bus company's officials in an attempt to resolve the transport problem in their area, but that the company does not seem to care about them.
According to Mr Joseph Mudau from Manyii, who must make use of the bus service every day, a number of people have in fact already lost their jobs because the company does not keep to its own operating schedules. He said that, for years the operator had been refusing to address the problem of buses that frequently break down. "I have to wait for a bus for almost two hours," he complained. "I have no choice but to continue using the bus service, because it is the cheapest option to get to work. Taxis cost twice as much."
Another commuter, Ms Maria Dongola, said they did not want these buses to transport them anymore. "We arrive late for work and home every day. The Mabirimisa buses are not roadworthy and traffic officers in the area are not doing anything," she said.
The spokesperson for the Mabirimisa Bus Company, Ms Takalani Mabirimisa, denied that their buses were unroadworthy and that they did not keep to their schedules to ferry commuters. According to her, they have never received complaints from commuters before.