Angry bus passengers stuck in Paarl
2009-07-30
Sieb Sieberhagen
ON Friday last week passengers travelling with SA Roadlink were marooned in Paarl when their bus was impounded by the authorities. The passengers were on their way from Johannesburg to Cape Town when the bus stopped near Klapmuts and they were forced to switch to another bus. There was only one transport permit between the two buses. They were spotted by traffic officials who escorted the two buses to the municipal traffic testing grounds in Dal Josaphat. After the roadworthy tests were done, the bus with a valid permit departed for Johannesburg. “It seems that they operate with only one permit. They use this permit to pass the roadblocks and inspections on the road, call another bus where they know no roadblocks exist, then swop buses and think that they can get away with it,” says senior provincial traffic inspector Yaseen Buys, the officer who caught them redhanded. Late on Friday afternoon, with angry passengers waiting for transport and the traffic centre due to close, Buysfinally escorted the bus to the weigh bridge at Joostenberg. “We stayed there until 18:00, but no bus arrived. I then escorted them to Cape Town after consulting with my superiors,” he said. Said one passenger, “We are very upset. We know that the tickets are the cheapest of all the bus companies, but this is not the way to treat us.”
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