allAfrica.com: Botswana: The Agony of Travelling Nowadays (Page 1 of 1)

If it were possible for him, he like most low-income earners in Botswana would resort to the mode of transportation used in the olden days.

Clutching his battered suitcase with a few belongings inside it, Batsalelwang Ntshupang, 76, stood with other passengers at the cacophonous Francistown bus rank, waiting for a Gaborone-bound bus.

"Two of my children work in Gaborone. The other one has been sickly for sometime. I am going there to see what I can do," said the grey haired father of seven from Tonota.

For him to get to Gaborone he had to first take the 45km journey to Francistown the previous day to collect the bus fare his third born daughter, who works in the northern capital, had promised him.

"There was a time when we paid as little as P1 from Tonota to here. We did our shopping and some people used to just come for leisure. Even before that we used our donkeys - and horses for those who had them - to come to Francistown.

"These days for you to come to Francistown, you have to close your bank account. Today, my daughter had to give me so much money for me to travel to Gaborone," Ntshupang moaned at length. Another passenger, who did not want to be named, said he weekly travels between Francistown and Gaborone. Looking suave in a black suit and tie, the man could have passed for a salesman in an upmarket office at Galo Mall, but the beaded bracelets on his wrists, gave him away.

"You see, I am a traditional healer and I have clients in Gaborone who I have to see. Before, I had no problem with the bus fare, but these days, I use so much money I am thinking of increasing my consultation fees to defray expenses," he cried. The duo and their fellow travellers had to part with P61 to reach their Gaborone destination. Before the increment, they paid P50. Rumours of an impending increase in bus fares could not help matters as passengers feared they would no longer be able to see their loved ones in far away places.

Mmegi is reliably informed that the Bus and Taxi Association has submitted proposals to the Department of Transport for a further increment, saying that they cannot sustain their businesses given the current diesel and petrol prices.

"We want at least between P70 and P75 from Francistown to Gaborone. We are, however, cognisant of the fact that Batswana who use our buses are mostly low-income earners. But what can we do?" Thato Witness, a manager at an express bus company, which plies the Francistown-Gaborone route, shrugged his shoulders. If the Transport Department heeds the proposal from the Bus and Taxi Association, it will be the saddest news for the likes of matronly, Omphile James, a vendor at the bus rank.

Originally from Mathangwane, James' son, who is the family breadwinner, works in Ghanzi and there was a time when he visited them every month. Nowadays he only comes when there are holidays, she said sadly. "I just wonder what will happen if the bus fares are increased again because it may take him even longer to come home," James said contemplatively.

Asked why they do not use the train, which is still cheaper as a Francistown-Gaborone ticket costs P28, Ntshupang said it was because he was travelling for the first time to Gaborone and one of his sons would be waiting for him at the Gaborone bus rank when they arrive. "Otherwise, I would use the train. It is cheaper, I hear. I just do not know how the train should be that cheap and travelling by bus so expensive," he said, perhaps unaware of grumbles from the bus operators that the present fares do not help them meet the costs of maintaining their vehicles.

Other passengers also said had it not been for the fact that they were in a hurry to attend to their errands in the nation's capital city, they would have waited for the night train. The buses depart for Gaborone at 6am until 2.30pm when the last bus leaves. It takes about five hours for the buses to reach Gaborone.

At the train station, hundreds of people were already queuing for tickets for the evening passenger train by 6pm. They said that they were to board the train, which departs by 9pm. Some of the people Mmegi spoke to said there was no way they were going to use buses, because there was a cheaper train alternative.

"It does not matter how long I have to wait as long as I finally get into the train. Buses are too expensive for me. Imagine that I just have to pay a mere P28 instead of the P61 required by buses," said a woman wrapped in a shawl holding a toddler. A majority of the passengers, however, were Zimbabweans who had travelled from Bulawayo to Francistown in the afternoon. They, too, said they would rather use a train to and from Bulawayo, as it was a lot cheaper.

"We pay P25 from Bulawayo to here (Francistown) by train and P45 when using a bus. The train is a must for me," said a Zimbabwean, who identified herself as Prudence Dube. But despite the disparities in the bus and train fares, bus operators said there is nothing they can do except to ask for further increases. But they admitted that another hike in fares would cost them passengers.

Witness said, already there are times when buses leave the bus rank half-empty. "Just go to the rank on Sundays and you will see what I am talking about. There are usually no passengers. This is a big loss to us." "You must realise that it is the government, which is making these increases in the bus fares without making an effort to increase train fares.

I do not think it is fair. But what can we do?" said Witness. His counterpart at Seabelo Express, which has a fleet of 33 buses, eight of them (buses) on the Francistown-Gaborone route, also concurred that the train was killing their business.

"They (the Botswana Railways) are in business just like us. Although they are killing us by not increasing their fares, there is nothing much we can do," said an administration officer who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the press.

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