Intercape’s Service and hygiene standards have seriously deteriorated

I’ve been using Intercape for over 10 years, and unfortunately, the service has gone downhill badly. My recent experiences were extremely disappointing — from hygiene to administration and even bus maintenance.

1. Hygiene Issues On 1 October, I booked an Intercape bus from Johannesburg to Durban. To my surprise, the Intercape driver directed me to a Big Sky bus without any explanation. The moment I stepped in, the bus reeked of urine. The smell was unbearable — I moved from the back to the front, but it made no difference.

Then again, on 12 October, I took the bus from Durban to Johannesburg, and it was the same story — a terrible smell of urine as soon as I boarded. Passengers even asked for a different bus, but we were told the lavatory was blocked and that someone had tried to fix it. They sprayed deodorizer, but the smell stayed with us all the way from Durban to Johannesburg. It was honestly disgusting and made the trip very uncomfortable.

2. Poor Admin and Delays As soon as we left the Durban station, the drivers realized there was an extra passenger on board. Instead of resolving it immediately, we only stopped in Pietermaritzburg, where the issue caused over an hour’s delay. It turned out a passenger meant to travel to Bethlehem had boarded the wrong bus. We had to wait for the person to be transferred, causing even more delays. This was frustrating, especially with the awful smell we were already enduring.

3. Mechanical Problems To make things worse, later in the trip the bus started shaking and vibrating badly. This happened in the middle of nowhere near Balfour — no lights, no safety, just darkness. The driver was patient and tried his best to move the bus to a safer spot, but he was told by Intercape staff to stop because he’d be held liable for any damage. That felt unfair since he was only trying to ensure our safety.

After years of being a loyal customer, I’m honestly disappointed. The hygiene, the poor admin, and the lack of maintenance show how much Intercape’s standards have dropped. I may be one passenger, but I doubt I’m the only one feeling this way. If things don’t improve, they’ll keep losing customers.