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FM AMCONSUL DURBAN
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INFO RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE 0003
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RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 0866

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DURBAN 000082 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/S, INR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SF
SUBJECT: DURBAN'S NEW BUS SERVICE DOESN'T END TRANSPORT CHALLENGES 
 
REF: DURBAN 37 
 
DURBAN 00000082  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  Durban commuters have been scrambling for 
transport ever since the Remant Alton bus service provider 
closed down at the end of June.  Remant Alton has been beset by 
financial, labor and managerial problems since it began 
operation.  New bus service provider Tansnat Africa has been 
appointed by the City of Durban to take over bus operations; 
however, former Remant Alton bus drivers and local bus operators 
are protesting this decision.  Left unresolved, these issues may 
put a crimp in Durban's plans to upgrade its public 
transportation system ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup (FWC). 
End Summary. 
 
Background: Operation Beset By Problems 
 
¶2. (U) Remant Alton took over Durban's bus service, Durban 
Transport, in 2003 in a privatization deal that was publicly 
heralded by Mayor Obed Mlaba and city management as a black 
empowerment model.  The operator has since received more than R1 
billion ($123.5 million) in government transport subsidies that 
keep prices low for students and senior citizens.  Despite this 
government aid, Remant Alton's service has been crippled by many 
problems.  In April 2006, a fire destroyed 69 of its buses; 
arson by disgruntled bus drivers was suspected as the cause, but 
authorities never charged anyone.  In May 2008, the service 
stopped for two days when workers went on strike to demand a pay 
increase. 
 
¶3. (U) Amid severe cash flow problems in September 2008, the 
eThekwini Municipality (of which Durban is a part) breathed new 
life into Remant Alton by agreeing to buy its bus fleet for more 
than R404 million ($49.9 million) and lease it back to Remant 
Alton to continue running the bus service on behalf of the 
municipality.  This buy-back agreement sparked a six-week long 
strike by bus drivers, who also demanded to be employed by the 
municipality (Note: According to a private sector contact, the 
drivers used to be municipal employees and received full buy-out 
packages in the 2003 privatization, so it is understandable why 
Durban authorities did not entertain this request. End note.). 
The strike ended with an agreement to involve workers in the 
planned restructuring of the city's contract and dividing it 
into smaller routes for contracting out to smaller operators. 
In January 2009, commuters were left stranded when bus drivers 
protested the possible shut down of Remant Alton. 
 
¶4. (U) In March 2009, Remant Alton suspended its services and 
declared itself technically insolvent.  Durban's executive 
committee threatened to sue Remant Alton for breach of contract. 
 Within two weeks, however, the bus service was up and running 
again after the city forgave penalties for transgressions of 
minimum services as set out in the original contract and lease 
costs of buses that had not been running during 2008's prolonged 
strike action.  In May of this year, commuters were stranded yet 
again when disgruntled drivers went on strike to protest their 
poor working conditions. This came a month after a month-long 
shutdown when Remant Alton said it could not operate because it 
had not received its monthly government subsidies. 
 
¶5. (U) In June of this year, local media reported that the 
National Prosecuting Authority's Asset Forfeiture Unit and 
Durban Organized Crime Unit had opened a case to investigate 
allegations of widespread irregularities in the takeover and 
running of Durban Transport by Remant Alton.  Also in June, a 
private investigator accused CEO of Remant Alton Jay Singh of 
fraud amounting to more than R1 billion ($123 million).   Singh 
was also accused of mismanaging a multi-million rand eThekwini 
housing project involving more than 2,500 houses. 
 
¶6. (U) In addressing allegations of wrongful conduct arising 
from the 2003 takeover of the city's bus service, Remant Alton 
recently disclosed that in order to finance the original 
purchase of Durban Transport, it had borrowed funds from 
Standard Bank using buses bought from the city as collateral. 
Neither how much money Remant Alton borrowed nor the exact 
amount it paid to the city for the purchase of the buses has 
been disclosed.  It is not clear whether this loan and the 
interest charges were repaid at the time the city repurchased 
assets from Remant Alton last year. 
 
¶7. (U) Remant Alton finally closed shop on June 30 when it 
stopped receiving government subsidies amounting to R8 million 
($988,000).  One thousand five hundred employees lost their jobs 
and 100,000 daily commuters were left to find alternate 
transport. 
New Bus Service 
 
 
DURBAN 00000082  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶8. (U) On July 9 MEC (Member of Executive Council -  a 
provincial `minister') for Transport, Community Safety and 
Liaison Bheki Cele and Durban Mayor Obed Mlaba announced  that 
Tansnat Africa, which runs a fleet of 800 buses across South 
Africa, would take over the Durban Transport bus contract until 
it expires at the end of September 2010.   Mayor Mlaba said that 
Tansnat was `the right company to take over' and will start 
operating on July 20.  Tansnat Africa CEO Mike Jesserman told 
the media that his company will bring substantial changes.  For 
example, the inner-city bus service will be run by taxi 
operators, and the bus fleet will be downsized from 650 to about 
450 buses to reduce fuel and salary costs.  Tansnat Africa also 
operates Ikhwezi Bus Service in Richards Bay and Empangeni, 
Sizanani maZulu in Pietermaritzburg, Imondlo Bus Service in 
Vryheid, and two luxury travel coach lines, Express Liners and 
Gauteng Coaches, which run between Durban and Johannesburg. 
 
Unclear Role for Taxi Drivers 
 
¶9. (U) Although Jesserman and KZN Transport Alliance Chairman 
Eugene Hadebe have indicated that taxi operators will manage 
about 40 percent of the new bus operation, eThekwini 
Municipality Deputy Head of Public Transport Erik Moller told 
local media that the operation being considered for taxis was 
`nowhere close to 40 percent of the total.  I am not aware of 
taxi operators getting any such stake.'  It is most likely that 
the People Mover and Mynah bus services could be given to taxi 
operators, which would translate to operating fewer than 70 
buses, compared to the 450 buses to be operated by Tansnat 
Africa. 
 
¶10. (U) South Beach Taxi Association Chairman Yusuf Khaliva said 
to local press that he could not comment on the bus operation 
plans because the association was also unclear about how it 
would operate in the new system.    Khaliva said the association 
was in preliminary discussions with the city and still needed 
City Manager Mike Sutcliffe to explain how its running of the 
buses in central Durban would work.  "We need Sutcliffe to 
explain how the operations will work, whether we will bring in 
our own drivers or what," he commented. 
Local Bus Operators Snubbed 
 
¶11. (U) Several Durban-based bus operators are upset that the 
eThekwini Municipality selected an out-of-town company to take 
over the Durban Transport bus service.  Established local 
operators reported to local media that the lack of consultation 
was unfair, especially as they have stepped in to assist the 
city whenever Remant Alton ran into trouble.  South Coast Bus 
Service Managing Director Pickey Dass said it was "a slap in the 
face" that his company, which had been shortlisted for the 
Durban Transport contract when the service was privatized in 
2003, was not considered to run the interim contract.  Mohamed 
Asmal, managing director of Durban-based Olympic Bus Lines said, 
`One would have expected the eThekwini Municipality to have 
given the local ratepayers some preference.'  In response to 
this criticism, a provincial cabinet task team, Mayor Mlaba, and 
the city council released a joint statement explaining that 
`emergency provisions of the existing contract were used for the 
appointment by the province of an alternative operator for the 
Durban transport service.' 
 
¶12. (U) Tansnat was not able to begin service as planned on July 
20 due to a court interdict brought by local bus operators, 
preventing the transfer of the Remant Alton contract to Tansnat 
Africa.  Local media reported that local bus operators 
questioned the process the eThekwini Municipality followed in 
awarding the contract to Tansnat.  On July 21, the 
Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled that the case would be 
postponed until October 26 and that Tansnat Africa has authority 
to run Durban's bus service in the meantime.  MEC Cele reported 
to a national radio program that bus service to Durban is 
scheduled to resume on July 27. 
What Becomes of Remant Alton Bus Drivers? 
 
¶13. (U) When Remant Alton closed shop, it fired all of its 
employees, but the bus drivers filed a stop order to prevent the 
company from doing so.  The request was dismissed in the 
Johannesburg Labor Court, and now the drivers are demanding that 
Tansnat Africa be required to hire all of them even thought the 
contract signed by the new company only requires it to source 80 
percent of its staff requirements from the Remant Alton staff. 
Transport Allied Workers' Union of South Africa General 
Secretary Zack Mankge said they were disappointed.  "As it 
stands now, the new operator has said it will employ about 80 
percent of the workers from Remant Alton, but that still means 
that between 200 and 300 workers will be on the streets - and 
 
DURBAN 00000082  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
that is unfair."  Mduduzi Sibiya who has worked for Remant Alton 
for six years, reported to local press that the drivers were 
distressed and angry.   "I am the breadwinner and I have five 
children to support.  I have a bond [mortgage] on my house and a 
car and next month, I do not know how I am going to make the 
payments.  It was wrong for the municipality to appoint a new 
operator without consulting us." 
 
¶14. (U) The situation has come to a head, and there was a tense 
three-hour stand-off between police and thousands of protesters 
outside the Durban City Hall on July 16 as marchers demanded the 
appointment of a commission of inquiry to investigate the 
collapse of Remant Alton.  The former Remant Alton bus drivers 
have threatened that no buses will run in the city without them. 
 City officials, however, said the law would take its course in 
the event of any disruptions of the bus service. 
 
¶15. (U) Opposition parties expressed sympathy for the 
protesters, saying the protest should serve as a warning to the 
city that decisions should not be imposed on people without 
consultation.  Inkatha Freedom Party eThekwini deputy secretary 
Joshua Mazibuko said in a press release, `This should be a 
wake-up call to the municipality because there is not just one 
group involved here, meaning the concerns are widespread.' 
Democratic Alliance (DA) Provincial Deputy Leader Sizwe Mchunu 
echoed Mazibuko's sentiments to local media, saying the DA had 
warned the city seven years ago that such a thing would happen 
if they did not put the public's needs first.  `People are 
saying they are tired of the poor service they are receiving 
from the city. They are tired of not being consulted on 
decisions and being victimized.' 
 
Comment 
 
¶16. (U) Durban's bus crisis poses a serious threat to the city's 
ambitious plans to improve its transportation system ahead of 
the 2010 FWC.  As reported in Reftel, Durban plans to establish 
a central public transport hub that will, in great part, depend 
on reliable bus service.  Taxi drivers who have a reputation for 
reckless driving also pose safety concerns.  Until these issues 
are resolved, the city will likely experience further strikes 
and protests, which will delay transportation initiatives and 
may embarrass Durban if they occur during 2010 FWC.  Similar 
labor issues and taxi protests have occurred in other 2010 host 
cities attempting to implement new bus-rapid-transit systems. 
DERDERIANJ