Pretoria - The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport has been accused of overlooking other bus operators in the province in favour of the Public Utility Transport Corporation (Putco).
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane found that the company had been irregularly benefiting from the government’s contracts since 1997.
The probe into the awarding of contracts was undertaken after some residents, including Moloto Corridor Concerned Residents, approached the public protector to complain that Putco had been enjoying a monopoly in the sector for years.
It was alleged that the buses were old and unroadworthy, and did not honour their pick-up spots.
Mkhwebane said in her report: “The conduct of the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport is in contravention of section 217 of the Constitution, section 38 of the Public Finance Management Act, Treasury Regulation 16A6.4, paragraphs 8 and 9 of National Treasury Instruction 3 of 2016/2017 Preventing and Combating Abuse in the Supply Chain Management System, and section 42(3) of the National Land Transport Act.”
DA Gauteng spokesperson for roads and transport Fred Nel said the lack of a bidding process for the contract, which has been extended for the past 20 years, was unfair to other competitors in the sector.
“Last year, a Putco bus carrying passengers caught fire on the road and six passengers died, while many sustained critical injuries. This incident happened along the deadly Moloto Road, and it was not long after another Putco bus, which was not carrying passengers at the time, burnt on the N1 in Pretoria,” he said.
The report revealed that the Putco bus contract was initially awarded for only 136 weeks in 1997 but was extended without due process being followed. Nel said the contract renewal caused an unfair competitive advantage for Putco. “Shockingly, the public protector also found that 108 other bus contracts were extended irregularly and that there was a lack of proper performance management.”
According to him, introducing proper competition in the provision of public bus transport for consumers would improve the quality of services offered. “Furthermore, many bus companies that have been operating in Gauteng had to close operations due to financial challenges, leaving hundreds of people jobless.
“Should this tender be advertised regularly as it supposed to be, it will save many jobs and ensure that a quality service is rendered instead of (having) a one monopoly company for over two decades,” he said.
Nel lamented that various MECs for Roads and Transport had promised in vain to advertise the bus contracts.
In response to the public protector’s inquiry about the contract, the office of Gauteng Transport head of department Dr Jerome Barclay said they had tried for several years to transit to a tendering system, but only the national Department of Transport could provide the way forward.
Director-general of the national Department of Transport, Alec Moemi, said the Gauteng contract with Putco was not unique. He said 108 such contracts had been concluded in other provinces.
The Gauteng department had since started with a bidding process for the subsidised bus service. The public protector asked the department to provide her with reports on a quarterly basis to “ensure compliance and management of goods and services”.
Pretoria News