The North West Provincial Legislature's Portfolio Committee on Community Safety and Transport Management has expressed concern over the failure of the Department of Community Safety and Transport Management (COSATMA) to meet several annual performance targets, while also warning that the ongoing crisis at North West Transport Investment (NTI) requires urgent intervention.
The committee, chaired by Freddy Sonakile, met with the department to consider its third and fourth-quarter performance reports for the 2025/26 financial year.
During the meeting, members of the committee engaged extensively on several outstanding matters, including the Road Rangers Programme, the department's security tender, the incorporation of the erstwhile Atamelang Bus Company into the Ngaka Modiri Molema bus contract, stock theft intervention plans, status of departmental infrastructure projects, ongoing litigation matters, and weighbridge operations across the province.
The committee expressed concern over programmes that failed to achieve their annual targets and instructed the department to submit a comprehensive corrective action plan outlining measures to address the shortcomings.
Particular emphasis was placed on the filling of vacant posts to strengthen institutional capacity and service delivery.
However, the committee commended Programme 2: Provincial Secretariat for Police Services and Programme 4: Transport Regulation for achieving all their annual performance targets, despite prevailing budgetary constraints.
The second part of the meeting focused on the ongoing challenges facing the North West Transport Investment (NTI). The Committee received a status report which painted a bleak picture of the entity's current state. NTI operations have been suspended since January 2026 following the withdrawal of buses by subcontractors due to non-payment.
The committee also received an update on recent legal developments involving Business Rescue Practitioner (BRP) Thomas Sammons, who has been granted condonation by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The committee stated unequivocally that it would not support any attempt to return NTI to the business rescue process, arguing that the intervention had failed to achieve its intended objectives.
"We will not support any move to reach a settlement with individuals who failed to rescue the entity, particularly when employees' salaries remain unpaid. The continued delays in resolving workers' salary issues are not only frustrating but constitute a betrayal of the employees who have borne the brunt of this crisis," Sonakile said.
The committee has requested that a clear timeline for the payment of all outstanding employee salaries be submitted by next week.
In a bid to find a sustainable solution to the ongoing crisis, the committee resolved to urgently convene a meeting with the Premier, and MECs for Provincial Treasury and Community Safety and Transport Management, to discuss the way forward for the embattled entity.
Members further called for legal avenues to be explored to implement the Executive Council's resolution to approach the courts for the removal of NTI from the business rescue process.
"The continued appointment of Business Rescue Practitioners and the prolonged uncertainty surrounding the entity cannot be condoned. We cannot continue dealing with the same individuals for more than four years while workers, commuters and economic opportunities in our province suffer. To do so would amount to political cowardice of the highest order," Sonakile said.
The committee also conveyed its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Ingrid Masothe, a South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) shop steward at NTI, who recently passed away.
"We pray that her passing, and those of others who have departed during this difficult period, will not be in vain as efforts continue to restore stability and dignity to the entity and its employees," Sonakile said. – SAnews.gov.za
