Putco buses to return on the road on Friday

Relief is in sight for thousands of Putco commuters as the company’s buses will return to the roads tomorrow.

Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, revealed this to the media this afternoon, saying the provincial government and the bus company have resolved their issues.

The over 200 000 Putco customers were left stranded across the country today following the company’s decision to suspend operations indefinitely.

Putco had cited a shortage of diesel caused by unpaid March subsidy as the reason for the move, which the Gauteng Transport Head of Department, Thulani Mdadane, had expressed shock over.

Mdadane said Putco’s subsidy will reflect on its bank account on Monday and the company knew about this prior to slamming the brakes on its fleet.

However, Political Economist, Dr Sam Koma, says the Putco matter is an example of what small businesses contend with in their dealings with state institutions.

He says public officials who continue to perpetuate this tendency need to be held accountable.

“The issue of non-payment of service providers by organs of state remain unresolved and there seems to be no political will and a sense of urgency in addressing this problem. This affects the cash flow of struggling small businesses through out the country. The law is clear that service providers must be paid within a period of 30 days for the service rendered. We need full compliance with this timeline. We need to see consequence management for those public officials who fail to comply or adhere with this legal prescript.”