DURBAN, KwaZulu-Natal — The long-awaited Go!Durban transport system is finally set to hit the roads this December, the eThekwini Municipality has confirmed, marking the end of more than a decade of delays for the ambitious public transport network. Following recent council approval and agreement on key negotiation principles, the initial rollout will focus primarily on the C3 corridor.
Funded through the National Department of Transport’s public transport network grant, the city has invested approximately 9.7 billion into the program. To ensure smooth daily operations, 22 buses are still pending acquisition by the municipality. Moving forward, VOCC structures will provide the formal ownership and governance frameworks through which local operators will actively participate in the delivery of the service.
Contract signings are officially scheduled for October, coinciding with Transport Month, and will serve as the catalyst for the soft launch of the service. This milestone will also initiate the critical testing and commissioning phase. This phase will involve rigorously evaluating the various components, systems, and operational elements of the new Go!Durban service to guarantee complete readiness for public operation.
Beyond infrastructure improvements, the project has served as a significant catalyst for local employment. To date, 22,967 job opportunities have been created through the initiative. This impressive figure includes 11,767 opportunities for youth, 3,677 for women, 231 for people with disabilities, and 25 graduates who have been formally employed through the project.
Despite these socioeconomic upsides, the road to implementation has been fraught with administrative and industrial challenges. A chairperson in the local taxi industry highlighted persistent leadership turnover as a major hurdle, noting that they are the fourth industry chairperson to be reintroduced to the program, re-engaged, and tasked with inheriting the complex project.
“We’ve been waiting for this project to be launched since 2012,” the taxi industry chairperson stated, reflecting on the protracted roadmap. They acknowledged that the journey was long and filled with obstacles, adding that at one stage, the bus industry genuinely feared the Go!Durban initiative would never materialize.
Looking ahead, the municipality has outlined a clear path forward. Following the successful soft launch and testing phase, the remaining phase one services, along with the inner-city distribution service, are scheduled to be introduced during the first quarter of next year.
