Interstate Bus Lines was founded on 28 April 1975 by Mr Abel Erasmus and Mr Fred Kinnear. The company was first known as Thaba ‘Nchu Transport. Later it was known as Jakaranda (after the Pretoria-based printers of the bus tickets whose name appeared on the back of the tickets). The name, Interstate, was later chosen because services expanded and the company began to operate between provinces. From its inception in 1975, Interstate has grown into a transport giant with as many as 600 buses countrywide at one stage. Interstate provided people with an alternative to rigidly-scheduled rail transport. Towards the end of the eighties, when the taxi revolution gained momentum, the two entrepreneurs decided to split their operations. Kinnear took on a new challenge by partnering up with the late Joseph Matsebula in Nelspruit. They laid the foundations for the Buscor Group, serving the Mpumalanga Province. A company which started humbly with four buses only, is today known as Interstate Bus Lines and Buscor.