The EFF has been accused of “dodging” a R60,000 bill it owes Eastern Cape bus owners who ferried party supporters to their July 28 fifth birthday celebrations at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane.
The 12 angry bus operators in Alice also claim the party has given them “the runaround”.
Alice Bus Operators Association (ABOA) secretary Lonwabo Mguqulwa said the party was “dodging” the bill.
“We have tried and tried with their local co-ordinator.
“We have even driven to their provincial head offices in King William’s Town, as well as called their national office, but in vain. We are just being given the runaround,” he said. Mguqulwa said they had had an agreement with the party for each bus to carry 22 people at a price of R5,000 per bus.
He said ABOA made 12 buses available, which transported 246 people from Alice to Mdantsane.
Mguqulwa is the provincial treasurer of the Eastern Cape Bus Development Council.
He said according to an agreement between the bus association and a local EFF co-ordinator in Alice, payment was supposed to have been made on July 30, two days after the Mdantsane event, which was addressed by Julius Malema.
“This is very painful, it hurts our business, we paid drivers to ferry people and filled the buses with petrol but we have nothing in return.”
Mguqulwa said after the local EFF co-ordinator started ignoring his calls and messages, he resorted to driving from Alice to the party’s head offices in King William’s Town. “At those offices, two women officials said they knew nothing about the deal with the bus companies and that the Joburg office was authorised to do payments.”
EFF MPL in the Eastern Cape legislature, Yazini Tetyana, referred the Dispatch to the party’s national spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
However, Ndlozi and the party’s secretary-general, Godrich Gardee could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Mguqulwa said an East London EFF official told him to call the national office and speak to someone by the name of Lynn.
“I called Lynn and her response was ‘who asked you to ferry people? Go to that person and demand your money’.”
Mguqulwa said he last spoke to the local co-ordinator on September 25, when he asked him to send him the buses’ registration numbers.
“We are still waiting. All we hear from them is ‘your payment is being processed’.”..