The rise of deadly buses must be attended to urgently

5 July 2012

The Young Communist League of South Africa [Ufasimba] welcomes the reports by the MEC of Education in Gauteng, Comrade Barbara Creecy on the state of public scholar transport. After testing for roadworthiness it was found that of 485 buses tested, 203 buses were declared un-roadworthy; this follows reports of the un-roadworthiness of the Putco killing machines that saw a great loss of lives in the Sedibeng district.

We condemn the way the bus owners are putting the lives of the working class who use their buses as the only means of transport at risk; in particular this subsidised scholar transport service providers who are negligent and exploit the fact that this buses are used by the poorest of the poor learners. It is this inhumane attitude that we continue to struggle against and we categorically condemn this neo-liberal development amongst even the petty bus owners that are hell-bent to maximise profit at the expense of our blood.

We hereby call on the department of transport to do random bus testing and speeding up the public scholar transport before schools reopen; and this should be an ongoing process and not an annual event. All stakeholders particularly the department of transport and the bus owners must ensure that the public transport that we are provided as a service is in line with our objectives of a public, quality, accessible and affordable transport system.

Bus owners should be held accountable and heavily penalised when found guilty of the ongoing deadly machines that are provided as a shoddy service to further exploit the working class in pursuance of blood profits.

Issued by the YCLSA HQ

Mangaliso Stalin Khonza
National Spokesperson
Young Communist League of SA
Cell: 083 617 5546
Tel(w): 011 339 3621
E-mail: khonzam@gmail.com