City refunding N2 Express service commuters as from Friday

Commuters from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha should please note that the City will be refunding MyCiTi passengers who have bought monthly packages for the N2 Express service as from Friday morning, 7 June 2019.

The refund will be immediate, and in cash.

Refunds

According to our records, 154 passengers from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha have bought monthly packages in advance.

We advise these commuters to please visit the Zone 3 kiosk at the Civic MyCiTi station in Cape Town where they will be required to complete a refund form. As stated above, the refund will be immediate, and in cash, once they have completed and signed the refund form.

This service will be available at the Civic Centre station as from 10:00 on Friday, 7 June 2019.

By Monday, 10 June 2019, we will be refunding commuters between 06:00 and 21:45. The refunds will be paid out at the Civic Centre station over the next two weeks, until Friday evening, 21 June 2019.

Unfortunately, we cannot refund commuters at the MyCiTi kiosks in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain due to threats to our MyCiTi personnel, and for security reasons.

Given that the service was temporarily suspended on 1 June 2019, the City has implemented a system to give cash back to those commuters who have already spent money on monthly packages and now need this money to pay for alternative transport.

We are aware that many low-income households rely on the N2 Express service and that they budget carefully to meet their monthly expenses.

Officials and sub-contractors were instructed to work around the clock to devise a method that will enable us to refund commuters immediately, at the cashier. I am relieved to say that we have managed to do devise this system and that it will be ready by Friday.

I want to apologise to our commuters once again. I am very concerned about the impact this is having on those who have been travelling from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha to town.

Way forward

In the meantime, I want to inform MyCiTi commuters that we are meeting with the stakeholders from the N2 Express service on a day-to-day basis. We are all committed to finding a long-term solution that will get the MyCiTi buses back on the road.

I am hoping to make an announcement soon about when the service is ready to operate again.