The eThekwini Municipality has spent a whopping R187.5 million in the past 75 months since the last quarter of 2019, providing security and maintenance for the almost completed GO! Durban bus route, including stations.
Since the project has been dormant for the last eight years, the city has been wasting a significant amount of money on a route that is not bringing in any revenue.
This has angered the national government, which recently threatened to stop providing additional financing.
The supposedly state-of-the-art Corridor 3 (C3) route between Pinetown and Bridge City, in the north of Durban, whose construction began in 2014, remains a white elephant.
According to the city’s GO! Durban News publication, the C3 was supposed to be completed towards the end of 2017 and become operational the following year.
The city was allocated R9 billion from the National Treasury for the C3, the first phase of the massive GO! Durban project, but it has gone through a train of four successive mayors — James Nxumalo, Zandile Gumede, Mxolisi Kaunda, and the incumbent Cyril Xaba, with no signs of completion in sight.
Describing the GO! Durban project at the beginning of its construction, Nxumalo wrote in the Sunday Tribune‘s sister title, The Mercury, on October 15, 2014, that the project was part of “developing the municipality from the ashes of apartheid into a prosperous city”.
So far, out of the whole project that was going to make travelling around the city and its outskirts much easier, only the C3, which connects Pinetown and Bridge City near KwaMashu and Phoenix, has been constructed, while the other seven corridors, which were going to complete the GO! Durban network across the city, are yet to see the light of day.
The initial plan was that the C3 and 2 would start operating in 2018, while other corridors would be gradually phased in between 2020 and 2030.
The delay for the possibly complete C3 has been partly attributed to the disagreement over how the taxi operators would participate in the operations of the buses.
Responding to questions this week about the ever-growing cost of C3, city spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said: “Approximately R2.5 million monthly for 24-hour patrolling and manned security services and maintenance for 27km of roadway, 12 stations, and 24 transfer stations.
“The security contracts have been in place since November 2018, while the cleaning contracts commenced in the first quarter of 2019.
“The provision of security and maintenance of GO! Durban facilities and associated costs will remain until the service is operational.”
Reading the riot act earlier this year, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy warned Xaba in a letter that was leaked to the media that further delays in kickstarting the operation of C3 would lead to the R771 million allocation being withheld, and if there is still no progress in 2025/2026, “the grant will be permanently stopped”.
Creecy was expecting the C3 to start operating in June this year.
ActionSA councillor Zwakele Mncwango said out of 44 buses bought for the Durban Transport Services, 22 of them were branded with the GO! Durban logo and were converted to meet the specifications of the GO! Durban.
“These 22 buses were initially branded with Durban Transport and were rebranded with GO! Durban,” said Mncwango.
He stated that after the Sunday Tribune‘s March 9 edition’s story about the bad conditions and state of neglect of the buses at the CBD’s Johannes Nkosi Street (formerly Alice Street) depot that has no shelter to shield the paintwork from the rain and sun, they were towed away to an undisclosed location.
“After the story, I went there on Monday (March 10) and took a video that shows that the buses have been removed.
“The question is, where have they hidden them?” asked Mncwango.
However, Sisilana told this reporter that: “In preparation for the GO! Durban testing programme, buses were moved from the parking area to the workshop within the same depot for assessment.”
However, earlier this week, Sisilana had said the fleet that had GO! Durban branding might be discarded when the project finally kicks off as they might not be integrated into the system.
She said 20 old buses were branded “GO! Lite”, which is also GO! Durban, in 2021, at the cost of R9 976.25, but did not specify if this amount was for all the buses or was per bus.
“The GO! Durban ‘GO! Lite’ branded buses are existing Durban Transport Buses and are used for testing and commissioning without passengers.
“It was important to brand the buses with the GO!Lite branding to create awareness of the planned commencement of C3 service to the broader public, as well as the brand identity for the public transport operators required to operate the C3 route.”
She said they might be handed to the asset management department, which deals with disposing of buses, as “you might have seen a bus auction”.
“Depending on the lifespan of the buses as well as the process of the asset management, which might decide whether they would be auctioned or whatever their process is,” said Sisilana.
She said the buses were not suitable to fully operate on the Go! Durban project.
“When the new buses arrive, these won’t be good because it’s going to be different altogether.
“I have seen their (new buses) design is not the same,” she said.
When asked if the old buses with GO! Durban branding might be rebranded back to the People Mover fleet, she said: “No, no, there is a process of disposing of them (but) I am not going to pre-empt the process.
“The municipality has a process of disposing of its assets, and it would be the same thing with the buses.”
