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More than 800 workers linked to North West Transport Investment (NTI) say a prolonged payment crisis has left them struggling to support their families, with some losing their homes and others unable to afford school fees and medical care.

This comes as the Gauteng and North West provincial governments postponed the official announcement of the phased resumption of bus services in Hammanskraal and surrounding areas, including Atteridgeville, Mabopane and Mamelodi.

For months, workers have been caught in the middle of a dispute over government payments, while NTI remains under business rescue, with the situation evolving into a joint state-led operational takeover.

George Malete, who has worked for the company for 11 years, said what was once a stable job began falling apart when their salary payments started to be late around 2024. “We went from being paid weekly to monthly and then nothing,” said Malete.

He said at first he blamed the delays on problems with government subsidies. The crisis deepened in January this year when NTI subcontractors withdrew their buses over unpaid money, bringing operations to a halt.

Malete said workers sometimes went months without receiving their full salaries. “At some point we were working consecutively for at least five months without full payments, and there was always an excuse of some sort that was given to the subcontractors.

“In January, they took their buses and operations stopped. This whole situation became a mess, and the company never communicated properly with us,” he said.

The financial consequences have been devastating for Malete, who had taken out a loan to build a home for his family.

“I could not make any payments. Every time the bank wanted to debit, it would bounce. My debt is about R200,000 in arrears. The banks can’t trust me with money, my credit score is messed up, and my children rely on me. I am even thinking of selling my car so that my child can go to varsity,” he said.

The workers’ plight is linked to a long-running dispute between the Gauteng department of roads and transport and North West Star, the company involved in operating the NTI bus service.

In a judgment dated August 5, the high court in Pretoria dismissed the department’s application for leave to appeal an earlier order compelling it to pay R105.95m and R84m to North West Star.

The original order followed a dispute over the department’s calculation of payments and penalties. Judge Bam found that the department had failed to directly engage with North West Star’s case that penalties had effectively been deducted twice.

For workers, however, the legal battle has had devastating consequences.

Martha Masoga, who has worked for the company for 15 years, said she lost her home after falling behind on her mortgage payments. “I have three children, and my mother has a chronic illness that I can’t take care of very well because I can’t afford medical aid,” she said.

“I had to take my children out of school because of money. The oldest even made the choice to drop out because of the situation. For my child to decide to do that, I can’t even begin to describe the disappointment in myself and the pain because I am the main breadwinner.”

Although workers received payments in June and July, Masoga said uncertainty remained.

The crisis has also taken a toll on workers’ mental health. Malete said several colleagues had died during the crisis, including some who allegedly took their own lives.

“We’ve lost about 14 colleagues. Some committed suicide, and you would hear it too often that a person was admitted to hospital because they were depressed and a few days later you found out they passed away,” he said.

South African Workers Union general secretary Lebusa Manaregane said the resumption of operations was welcomed, but workers remained concerned about whether salaries would be paid consistently.

“We want to be confident that going forward everything will run smoothly without any political sabotage.”

Manaregane said the union was also seeking intervention in the liquidation process and wanted the dispute finalised.

“We are therefore looking for intervention in the business rescue process and a decision on this matter because some of us were almost arrested because we were protesting. So we are hoping this whole matter can be finalised,” he said.

He said more than 800 workers depended on the jobs and could not continue bearing the consequences of unresolved disputes.

Sowetan