An application to have the MyCiti bus service expansion halted in Cape Town was dismissed by the Western Cape High Court.
|||Cape Town - An application to have the MyCiti bus service expansion halted in Cape Town was dismissed by the Western Cape High Court on Friday, the city said.
Golden Arrow Bus Services applied to compel the city to enter into a mediation and arbitration process to resolve disputes relating to the roll-out of certain routes in the city.
It also wanted to prevent the city from negotiating and concluding a 12-year-contract to operate MyCiti buses in extended areas.
The application was brought against transport MEC Robin Carlisle and the two companies operating the existing interim MyCiti services.
According to the city, High Court Judge Bennie Griesel found that compulsory arbitration and mediation where parties could not reach agreement was “inappropriate”.
“If the city were obliged to reach consensus on every issue and with every participant in the process, failing which it could be compelled to go to mediation and arbitration, it could become endlessly bogged down,” he said.
The court found that compelling it to go through such a process would make it impossible for the city to fulfil its mandate to integrate services into an overall public transport system.
According to the National Land Transport Act, the city was obliged to negotiate, but not to agree to something.
The application was dismissed with costs.
Transport mayoral committee member Brett Herron welcomed the judgment, which meant it could implement affordable and integrated public transport for all residents.
Golden Arrow spokeswoman Bronwen Dyke could not comment on the judgment until the company had fully studied the implications. - Sapa