By Mbono Mdluli | 2019-11-22
Members of Parliament (MPs) have stopped the increase of bus fares, for now.
The public transport operators might have to wait until Monday to hear what Parliament would say on the matter, as it will be debated on this very day in the House of Assembly.
This follows news doing the rounds that some public transport owners had started to increase fares for their routes. The House of Assembly yesterday pronounced itself that any increase should stop until Parliament gave it a go-ahead.
The Maximum Bus and Taxi Fares (Amendment) Regulations of 2019 are currently in Parliament, having been tabled yesterday by Minister of Public Works and Transport Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe in the House of Assembly.
Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo brought to the attention of the House the fact that some business people were already charging the revised fares to commuters, which were still not approved by Parliament.
MP Khumalo said some were charging prices that were in the plastic regulations, which were tabled by Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Moses Vilakati last month in the lower chamber. The Lobamba Lomdzala MP called upon the House of Assembly Speaker Petros Mavimbela to call upon any business person who charged any higher price to stop.
Speaker Mavimbela told Khumalo that he would make a follow up on the matter. This response did not satisfy Khumalo, who said he did not understand what Mavimbela meant, when people were already suffering from the business people.
Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini pleaded with the Speaker to pronounce himself and tell the business people who were doing such a thing to stop.
The Speaker did so and stated that any business person who would be found to be doing such a thing should stop until Parliament pronounced itself on the matter.
Mavimbela then ordered the portfolio committees of the two above-mentioned ministries to ensure that they worked on the two regulations over the weekend.
He said on Monday, the House of Assembly would be tabling the reports of the two regulations. The debate, adoption, and passing of both regulations would also happen the same day, according to the Speaker.
Reports doing the rounds are to the effect that some people, who are public transport operators are already charging the increased bus fares, especially in areas around the Lubombo region. A certain MP, who is in the same industry, said it was wrong for any public transport operator to increase the fares without the approval of Parliament.
A person producing more than 24 micrometre plastic risks being fined E50 000 according to the regulations, or face spending a year behind bars.
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