Cape Town - The City has announced the successful conclusion of a supply chain management process that would allow the administration to enter into a contract with the derailed N2 Express Joint Venture (JV) vehicle operating company.
The service has been out of operation since a dispute arose among the route’s taxi industry shareholders when their contracts ended in the first half of 2019.
Negotiations collapsed between the City and members of the N2 Express Joint Venture operating company. The company was made up of Route Six Taxi Association, Golden Arrow Bus Service (Gabs) and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta).
City executive director for transport, Dalene Campbell, said the City was confident and optimistic that the next phase of the process – namely to conclude the contract with the JV consisting of Codeta, Route Six, and the Gabs – would yield a positive outcome.
Meanwhile, taxi operators said they have no hope. Codeta spokesperson Andile Khanyi said they never received any information from the City about the new developments on the N2 Express.
“We can only comment when we receive this from the City, because it is only a statement that is coming from the City, without the affected party, so we will not comment on this matter, because it is still hearsay,” said Khanyi.
When the Cape Argus asked Gabs spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer about the issue, she said she would only comment today (Monday), after discussing it with the company’s chief executive and general manager.
Campbell said they would keep the public and the MyCiTi commuters from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha informed on their progress.
“The City will be able to provide more information once the next phase of this process has been concluded,” she said.
ANC provincial spokesperson on transport, Lulama Mvimbi, welcomed the City’s announcement. He said he was hoping “it's not a false alarm that seeks to appease commuters with misinformation, we should not forget that Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain commuters have been left stranded for years without any support from the City”.
Mvimbi called for the City to respect the operators and consider the demands of the company.
“We hope the interest of the long suffering commuters, especially the poor and the working class will be at the centre of this process as these commuters from these communities must also benefit from a modern and efficient world class public transport system,” he said.
“The City is eager and committed to seeing the service back on the road to the benefit of commuters from the metro-south east,” said Campbell.