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The DA will write to the chairperson of the portfolio committee on Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET), Mapula Mokaba-Phuwana, to summon the CEO of Great North Transport (GNT), Dr Matate Mokoele, to provide details on the rationale to award a contract for installation of Wi-Fi on their buses.

Last week the public entity announced on social media that it started to roll out the installation of free Wi-Fi on buses in the Vhembe region.

It is concerning that GNT is prioritising non-essential supplementary services to their commuters at the expense of critical operational requirements.

GNT has not been financially viable for 8 years and recent oversights at their 8 bus depots by the DA confirmed that the turn-around strategy has left depots under resourced and understaffed to provide logistical and mechanical support to the dwindling fleet.

Current challenges GNT face include:

• Failure to meet its contractual obligations to provide a sufficient fleet of buses by the Fourth Quarter of the 2022/23 financial year’;
• Unreliable schedule pick-up times which leave commuters in the lurch;
• Lack of roadworthiness of GNT buses; and
• Persistent challenges at GNT bus depots.
• The funds utilised for the installation and maintenance of this Wi-Fi project, could have been used to improve the operations of GNT or to service buses.

Lack of information on the tender process, contract amount and time frames are indicative of yet another asinine plan to enrich cadres at the expense of a dependable public transport network.

We will get to the bottom of this to ensure that poor communities who cannot afford other modes of transport receive safe and reliable transport from GNT.

Issued by Risham Maharaj MPL - DA Provincial Spokesperson on LEDET