“NTI failing to fulfil its contractual agreement”

A troubled North West provincial government’s
owned Transport entity (NTI) is facing a growing debt after it flouted a
contractual agreement entered with the Gauteng Department of Roads and
Transport in 2023.

The bus company has been going through a rough
patch, failing to provide public transport to more than 300 000 commuters
mostly in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, and surrounding areas and failing to
pay workers monthly salaries amongst others.

The Department MEC, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela,
accompanied by senior the officials of the City of Tshwane engaged with
commuters in Hammanskraal on Sunday as part of ongoing efforts to address
persistent public transport challenges in the area.

During the engagement, commuters called on the
government to urgently introduce alternative transport solutions while
intergovernmental processes continue to resolve the ongoing bus service
disruptions.

Speaking on YOU FM Newshour, the department’s
spokesperson Lesiba Mpya said they are also engaged with the entity regarding
its failure to fulfil its obligation as per the contractual agreement entered.

“I might not be at liberty now to disclose the
contents of the conversations, but we are indeed in conversation with both NTI
and the North West province.

The MEC came down to the commuters to share the
solutions she has as Gauteng to the challenges facing them to activate an
entity from Gauteng which she controls as requested by the people of Gauteng,” said
Mpya.

Furthermore, the Department has expressed no
confidence on the promise by the NTI that it will resume operations soon.

“We are aware that their buses are
non-compliant in terms of its operating licenses, and that is part of our
engagement with them.

We have asked the entity to give us an
assurance in writing that the buses will be complying, the operating licenses
will be processed.

What we are saying is that the
Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) platform is paying off but at the same time
the people are still going on without the transport.

If it were up to the MEC the solution would be
rolled out as soon as Monday, but she is in consultation with all the relevant
stakeholders,” explained the spokesperson.

In addition, Mpya said that they entered into a
negotiated contract with NTI in 2023 because of their confidence in the entity.


“We truly still believe that NTI is an entity
that if we all focus on the business of the day, it can be saved.

We have demonstrated our commitment to that,
and we renewed the contract for seven-years, and we have been obeying our
monthly contractual obligation.

We have been paying and this is what boggles
the MEC because she has only withheld payment of two months to the tune of R105
million.

We were recently informed that there’s a
situation where workers have not been paid for 14-months which is about R244
million and the entity itself owing the province of Gauteng approximately R108
millions of penalties and while at that NTI is claiming from us of certificate
to the tune of R105 million that should be paid, and the matter is still in
court,” Mpya elaborated.