To our valued customers and all key stakeholders of our Interstate Bus Lines (Ya Rona) 49 years ago two great men, Messrs Abel Erasmus and the late Fred Kinnear, took a leap of faith and started Thaba Nchu Transport with only four buses that serviced the Northern rural areas of Thaba Nchu. From those humble beginnings arose what today is under our care and leadership, Interstate Bus Lines (Ya Rona), which now operates with 235 buses. Over the years the company evolved from Thaba Nchu Transport to Jakaranda Bus Service and now Interstate Bus Lines. IBL, as it is affectionately known, is the biggest Free State based public transport company and with its rich history is firmly entrenched in the hearts and minds of the communities of not only Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, but also of the greater Free State. For this historic journey of 49 years going for the golden jubilee, our 50th Anniversary in April 2025, we wish to heartily THANK all our key stakeholders and in particular our daily commuter public for their valuable support over the years.
As the father of our nation, Nelson Mandela, once said “After climbing a hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb”, indeed our journey has not only been smooth sailing but have been one of remarkable victory and conquering of many hills as we faced and continue to face many challenges that impacts negatively on our operations. Like in all the years of our existence, challenges remain part of our journey and once again as Nelson Mandela said “Remember that hope is a powerful weapon even when all else is lost”. As we stand at the foot of yet another hill that we need to climb and conquer, we do so with the resolve of never losing hope despite those challenges. Together with our key stakeholders and in particular the communities of Mangaung, we have climbed over many hills and we will emerge victors over many more.
As we are on the last lap of our journey towards the 50th Anniversary, the entire IBL Team looks forward to a historic celebration together with all our key stakeholders.
We have recently unveiled our 50th Anniversary logo which represents our golden journey of excellence and service to our customers. For the next few months we will build up to the celebrations with a number of CSI activities and later we will unveil the IBL Legacy Projects that will be our flagship projects for the 50th Anniversary of Excellence. We look forward to celebrating with you throughout the remaining ten months up to 28 April 2025 and beyond.As I conclude, on behalf of the Board of Directors and Management of Interstate Bus Lines, I would like to congratulate the newly elected Honourable Premier of the Free State who is the former MEC of our employer, Department of Community Safety, Roads and Transport and her newly appointed EXCO in particular honourable MEC of Community Safety, Roads and Transport Jabu Mbalula . As with all his predecessors we look forward to working with him in service of the communities in our operational area and the entire Free State. The bedrock of our cordial relations with all previous Members of the Executive Council has always been our dedication to service the communities in an open, transparent manner and with integrity.
We believe that such cordial relations will continue to prevail as the Honourable MEC is not totally new to the Department and our services, as at some point in time he might have been one of our customers, during those difficult struggle years of his political activism in and around our operational area. We wish the honourable MEC a great and fruitful term of office and we commit our support to his office for the benefit of the communities of our operational area.
Let the celebrations begin, we are leaders in transport solutions, moving Mzansi to a better life.
George
George Mokgothu
Executive Chairman
