The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is probing the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison’s renewed bus contract with the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) amidst alleged irregularities and roadworthiness concerns.
Tensions between the Modderrivier Taxi Association and SANTACO resulted in the suspension of bus services last week. This left commuters, travelling from Ritchie and Modderrivier to Kimberley, stranded.
The Modderrivier Taxi Association demanded that the busses, believed to have been found unroadworthy, be re-examined. Three out of four buses failed roadworthy tests due to faulty brakes, during a roadblock operation conducted by traffic officials.
The Modderrivier Taxi Association has also raised suspicions of contractual irregularities and price fixing between SANTACO and the department.
These allegations cannot be left untested, particularly as the department admitted in its 2025/2026 Annual Performance Plan that none of the province’s bus contracts were awarded through a tender process. The department also admitted that the persistent lack of tendered contracts has resulted in the operators being inefficient and rendering poor quality services.
The DA has submitted written questions to the department. They must provide us with the conditions of the contracts entered into with all subsidised bus operators, and supply proof that all busses were compliant and roadworthy when the contracts were awarded.
The department must also respond to allegations of price fixing and provide copies of the pricing structure and tender documents, to determine if services were fairly and transparently quoted, without bias.
The department’s assurance that a competitive bidding process will be followed before the expiration of the current two-year contract in 2026, is also not good enough, and must be urgently reprioritized.
The DA will not allow the safety of commuters, who are reliant on government subsidized public transport services, to be compromised through corruption and mismanagement.