CAPE TOWN – The MyCiti bus service will be suspended for the rest of the week, the City of Cape Town said on Friday.

This is due to the ongoing nationwide bus strike.

Drivers are demanding an 18 percent wage hike, while employers are offering nine percent.

Thousands of MyCiti commuters were forced to use alternative transport on Friday morning when bus drivers failed to arrive for work.

The Table View route was initially suspended following threats from striking workers, but the city decided to suspend all services.

The city’s Brett Herron believes it is too risky to put the vehicles on the road.

“Services are not likely to resume this afternoon because the situation has not changed. We are still concerned around the safety of our passengers and of our drivers. Until such time when we are confident that passengers and drivers will be able to travel safety, we cannot put the services back on the road.”

Meanwhile, the municipality has welcomed a high court judgment dismissing an application by Golden Arrow Bus Services which threatened to halt the further expansion of MyCiti services.

Golden Arrow, which operates some MyCiti routes, made a court application to force the city to enter into a mediation and arbitration process around areas of dispute.

It also wanted to prevent the city from concluding a 12-year contract to operate existing MyCiti routes.

The court found that if the city is compelled to reach consensus on every issue, it would be impossible to integrate services into the larger public transport system.
The council’s Kylie Hatton said, “This is extremely positive news for the City of Cape Town as it means our current negotiations for long-term contract to operate existing MyCiti routes, as well as our planned routes, can continue and these contracts can be included.”

Source: Eyewitness News