MATRANS LAUNCHES SIX NEW BUSES

Two taxi associations namely Mamelodi Local and Long Distance Taxi Association (MALLDTA) and the Mamelodi Amalgamated Taxi Association (MATA) have joined forces to form a bus company called MATRANS and launched six new buses to their already existing fleet on Monday in Mamelodi.

Deputy Chairperson of Matrans Ben Maredi photo by Dimakatso Modipa

MATRANS is an acronym for Mamelodi Transport Solutions.

Amongst the guests were Tshwane Taxi Industry members, deputy chairperosn of Matrans Ben Maredi, Tshwane Taxi Industry Chairperson Mpho Motsepe, SANTACO President Abner Steve, National Taxi Alliance first deputy president Mr Mahlangu, National Taxi Alliance general secretary Aphius Mlalazi, Tshwane Rapid Transit CEO Matete Matete, representative from Gauteng Department of transport and Tshwane including the most important guests shareholders.

Sponsor business partners are Mzanzi tracker, Bomoro, Cartel Group and RMA.

Chairperson of MATRANS Stemmer Monageng told Tshwane Talks that MATRANS has filled the void that has been left open when bus company PUTCO stopped its operations in Mamelodi in 2013.

“MATRANS was formed in terms of the Zambezi Resolutions in 2014 and I was elected as chairperson of its board and am still serving in that position up until now,” explained Monageng.

“MATRANS started its operations with five buses and our plan is to have a total of twenty-five buses by the end of next year,” he said.

He emphasised the fact that MATRANS is a company that runs its affairs professionally and has attorneys among its board of trustees.

“I urge Mamelodi commuters to keep on supporting MATRANS and we would like to thank them for their support over the years, because without their support we wouldn’t have bought the six new buses that we are launching,” enthused Monageng.

“As the executive committee of MATRANS we will continue to make sure that commuters’ needs are taken care of by providing reliable transport and we will also make sure that we assist the community in terms of our corporate social responsibility programme,” he said.

“It is the first time in the history of Tshwane for black people to own a fully-fledged bus company and I believe that if I get something from the community then I must plough it back into the community,” he said.

“Today we have proved not only to Mamelodi but to South Africa and the world at large that there are still some good people out there who are still prepared to work hard and sweat for the commuters and the people that have elected them to the positions of the board of MATRANS and that’s why we have dug deep down our pockets and purchased more buses, and the good thing is that as MATRANS we are going to employ people of Mamelodi across the board from drivers, cleaners and security personnel as MATRANS has been built with money coming from Mamelodi,” he enthused.

MATRANS buses operate in the routes that were previously utilised by PUTCO in the Pretoria CBD, Kolonade and Eastern suburbs and its ticket prices are low since the company is being subsidised in this regard.

“We want commuters to support MATRANS buses because these buses in essence belong to them; we want them to protect these buses at all costs; we want them to see themselves in these buses and we won’t disappoint them as we will fight for their rights regarding reliable transport,” said an elated Monageng.

“I’m so happy that all this years the dream is coming true and my money has not gone down the drain,” said one of the shareholders Dora Chewed.

“I’m over the moon to see the brand new buses and this will be the legacy for my kids and my grandchildren and I believe in our leadership and trust them they always make the right decisions,” said
happy shareholder Freddy Mashapa.

“I see the future is bright for MATRANS and I believe more buses are coming and I wanna thank the leadership for not throwing the towel and fight to be where we are today, I’m happy and speechless,” said shareholder Mpho Mokgari.