Retrenchments loom at prominent state-owned bus company

Great North Transport, a state-owned bus company, has issued a Section 189 notice initiating consultations on possible retrenchments.

Great North Transport operates primarily across Limpopo Province and parts of Mpumalanga, with approximately 87 buses.

It operates under the oversight of the Limpopo Economic Development Agency and serves as a subsidised public road transport provider.

It connects rural communities, townships, and major municipal centres like Polokwane, Makhado, Giyani, Tzaneen, and Mokopane.

On Friday, 24 July 2026, Jacques Smalle, the DA Limpopo Spokesperson for Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, raised the alarm about the issue.

He asked Tshitereke Matibe, a Member of the Executive Council of Limpopo, to disclose the extent of the proposed restructuring and its impact on workers and commuters.

“Employees must not be made to pay the price for years of financial mismanagement and governance failures under the ANC,” Smalle said.

He said that Great North Transport (GNT) has issued a Section 189 notice in terms of the Labour Relations Act, initiating consultations on possible retrenchments.

He called on the MEC for Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Tshitereke Matibe, to urgently appear before the LEDET Portfolio Committee.

He said that Matibe, the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA), as GNT’s shareholder, and GNT’s interim accounting authority must explain:

• The financial and operational reasons for the proposed retrenchments.

• The alternatives considered to avoid or minimise job losses.

• The number of employees and depots that may be affected.

• The potential impact on commuters who rely on GNT services across Limpopo.

“We have warned that GNT’s deteriorating financial position, operational instability and governance failures would threaten the company and its employees,” Smalle said.

“The ANC-led provincial government has assured the public that GNT was being stabilised through bailouts, fleet renewal and turnaround interventions.”

He said that Matibe must explain this contradiction and tell people whether the turnaround strategy has failed.

He must also shed light on why the Legislature has not yet been informed, and how the company reached a point where jobs may now be at risk.

“The MEC must also disclose whether the proposed restructuring forms part of a properly costed recovery plan,” Smalle said.

“We want to know whether retrenchments are being pursued as a short-term response to deeper financial and governance failures.”