Pretoria - Northwest Transport Investments (NTI), the North West transport parastatal that has been under judicial management since March 1999, was this year expected to make a profit for the first time since the mid-1990s, ST Prinsloo, NTI's chief executive, said last week.
Prinsloo said the severe losses of the past years had been contained and the company's financial affairs had been turned around to the extent that a profit was expected for the 2002/03 financial year.
During this financial turnaround and restructuring process, the vehicle fleet was reduced and major retrenchments took place to ensure a balanced demand and supply of reliable transport.
JR Rapoo, NTI's executive finance head, said the group's projected results for the financial year just to March 31 this year were a relatively small loss, with the budget for 2002/03 financial year reflecting a profit that is forecast to grow up to 2007.
Prinsloo described the turnaround as a remarkable achievement, adding that NTI had also embarked on a comprehensive fleet upgrading and rebuilding programme in conjunction with MAN Truck & Bus.
In this programme, 10 train buses would be replaced, 20 new standard buses would be added to the fleet while 100 tender compliant buses would be rebuilt.
Popo Molefe, the North West premier, said NTI, as the major provider of passenger transport services in the North West, conveyed 63 million people and travelled 80 million kilometres a year.
"This clearly means E public transport is the lifeline of our economic and other spheres of life in our province. The challenge therefore is to ensure its viability and cost effectiveness," he said.
Molefe said with the changes in the public transport legislation and the subsequent shift towards tender for contracts, a number of highly trained and skilled workers had lost their jobs.
"This unfortunate situation cannot be left unabated," he said.