11 Mar 2015

The Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo, says there are no licenced 15-seater combi operators between Ramotswa and Gaborone. 

Responding to a question in Parliament, Mr Mabeo said instead there were nine licenced operators in Gaborone- Ramotswa and 12 licenced operators in Gaborone-Taung road.

He said Gaborone-Ramotswa route had been designated for 60-seater capacity vehicles for the reasons that they experienced high volumes of commuters between the two places especially in the morning and afternoon when workers go and come from work.

Mr Mabeo stated that the same strategy had served the community and operators well and therefore it had also taken care of the instances of safety of passengers. He said for that reason, he would not consider allowing 15 combi operators on that route.

Mr Mabeo said according to their records, the operations in Ramotswa started at 4am  and ended at 8pm, while in Gaborone operation started at 5am and ended at 10pm. He nevertheless said they would continue monitoring the evening time slots to determine if the operators honour their departure times.

Mr Mabeo stated that in addition, there is the Gaborone –Taung operation, which serve the same market as Gaborone- Ramotswa operations saying its operation in Taung begins at 0530hours and ends at 1830 hours, while in Gaborone the operation starts at 0600hours and ends at 2100hours 

Ramotswa MP, Mr Samuel Rantuana had asked the minister if he is aware that there are no licenced combi operators operating between Ramotswa and Gaborone.

MP Rantuana had also wanted to know the reasons for lack of combi operators as well as if the minister would consider allowing operators on that route and if so when.

Further the MP wanted the minister to state whether the operating times would be extended to 2200 hours to cater for people who work late. ENDS