- GNT fell from 540 buses and 36 million passengers a year to just 23 operational buses by July 2025 despite nearly R1 billion in taxpayer-funded bailouts.
- The SIU has advised that its investigation into GNT is expected to be finalised by the end of September 2026 — its findings must be made public.
- Public transport must be funded, but failure must not be bailed out: new buses must be matched by governance reform, accountability and consequences.
The arrival of some new buses for Great North Transport (GNT) are desperately needed by thousands of commuters. But new buses cannot erase how GNT was allowed to collapse from 540 buses serving around 200 routes and carrying 36 million passengers a year to just 23 operational buses by July 2025 — despite nearly R1 billion in taxpayer-funded bailouts over the past decade. As the DA in Limpopo we remain adamant that there must be full disclosure, accountability and consequences for those responsible.
Any attempt to turn GNT around without first confronting the reasons for its collapse and taking the necessary remedial action is doomed to repeat the same failures. It risks throwing more good money after bad.
We call for the public release of the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) findings into corruption and maladministration at GNT. The SIU has advised us that its investigation is expected to be finalised by the end of September 2026, after which its findings will be submitted to the President and Parliament.
The DA does not oppose investment in a viable public transport service. We oppose repeatedly bailing out a failed operating model without first fixing the governance, financial and operational failures, and addressing allegations of corruption and maladministration.
In July 2025, we called for a full and transparent enquiry into GNT and for further bailouts to be reconsidered until meaningful governance reforms were implemented.
Repeated turnaround attempts have failed:
- A fleet renewal initiative in 2013;
- A formal turnaround strategy commissioned in 2017; and
- A further turnaround drive through LEDA in 2021/22.
Premier Phophi Ramathuba, her Provincial Executive and the ANC cannot distance themselves from previous administrations while presenting themselves as a “new broom”. Accountability must extend across years of provincial oversight, repeated turnaround plans and continued public funding under the ANC.
A SCOPA report adopted by the Limpopo Legislature in 2025 described GNT as a “fiscal black hole”, called for a full enquiry and recommended withholding further funding until governance reforms were implemented. It also raised the prospect of national intervention.
The SIU investigation, authorised under Presidential Proclamation 246 of 2025, further demonstrates the seriousness of the matters requiring investigation at GNT.
A more recent SCOPA oversight report found that GNT continues to face serious operational, financial, governance and service-delivery problems, and called for urgent corrective action, including a costed, time-bound turnaround plan and strengthened oversight.
New buses are welcome. But new buses alone will not fix GNT.
Public transport must be funded. Failure must not be bailed out.
Getting buses back on the road is necessary. But fixing GNT’s governance, finances and administration, and addressing the corruption and maladministration being investigated by the SIU, is not negotiable.
Without both, another turnaround risks becoming another chapter in the same cycle of failure, collapse and wastage.