The Pretoria high court has ordered the Gauteng transport department to pay more than R154m to bus operator Putco over unpaid subsidised bus service contracts.
In a judgment handed down on May 13, judge Anthony Millar ruled in favour of Putco and directed the roads and transport department to settle the outstanding amount.
“The first and second respondents are directed to make payment within five court days of this order of the outstanding amount due to the applicant for the applicant’s operated scheduled kilometres — as more fully set out in the founding affidavit — amounting to R154,400,171.87,” Millar ruled.
The dispute relates to contracts signed on June 30 2023 between Putco and the department for the provision of subsidised commuter bus services.
According to court papers, Putco approached the court after claiming the department failed to pay for kilometres operated during February and part of March 2026, despite the company continuing to render services.
Millar said the department had not disputed that the services were rendered by Putco.
“It is common cause that the applicant rendered the services and incurred the expenditure associated therewith,” he said in the judgment.
The department could not continue benefiting from services while withholding payment.
“The respondents cannot approbate and reprobate. They cannot accept the benefit of the services rendered and simultaneously refuse to comply with their reciprocal obligations.”
Addressing the urgency of the application, Millar noted that Putco had demonstrated that continued non-payment placed the company under severe financial strain and risked disrupting public transport services relied on by commuters.
“The failure to make payment has the potential to impact not only upon the applicant but also upon the thousands of commuters dependent upon the subsidised services.”
Millar also rejected arguments that the dispute should not be heard urgently, saying the matter involved an essential public transport service.
“In my view, the applicant has established a proper basis for urgency,” the judge ruled.
The court also ordered the department to pay interest and legal costs.
Sowetan
Nandi Ntini
www.timeslive.co.za
