Putco has been part of South African history and traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) for over six decades. The company survived the penny fare increase of 1954, the 1976 riots and the upheavals of the 1980s.

Carleo Enterprises bought back the company from the Leyland Motors Corporation in 1971. They had initially sold their entire shareholding in 1962. Albino Carleo went on to lead PUTCO as Managing Director, later serving as chairman and CEO for more than three decades. He retired in September 2004. Franco Pisapia, a nephew of Albino Carleo, took over as Managing Director.

The company had its own bus body building, engine & gearbox overhaul facility which was based in Brits, outside Pretoria, called the “Dubigeon Body & Coach”. Larimar/Putco has been at the forefront of Black Economic Empowerment and in particular supporting women SMME operators for more than 10 years; our flagship project was with Gauteng Women in Transport, the first of its kind in the bus industry, where women operators were developed to actively run their own enterprise. They started with subcontracting five (5) buses and to date, they own more than 15 buses.

1945 – 1950

The Public Transport Untility Company (PUTCO) was founded by Jack Bird Barregar in 1945 and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with an issued share capital of R810,000. At the end of the decade PUTCO was placed under Judicial Management.

1950 – 1960

Three years later company was taken out of Judicial Management. PUTCO pioneers began giving aptitude tests to potential drivers, and a year later introduced advertising on buses.

1960 – 1970

PUTCO was taken over by the Leyland Motors which began the acquisition of other bus services including Edenvale Bus Service from Carleo Enterprises. Six years later Carleo Enterprises sold all their remaining facilities to PUTCO, comprising of Rand Bus Lines and Evaton Passenger Services.

1970 – 1980

In 1971 Carleo Enterprises bought a 51.6% shareholding of PUTCO from Leyland Motors and formally changed the name from Public Utility Transport Corporation to PUTCO Limited. PUTCO began the acquisition of other bus services, including the Edenvale Bus Service from Carleo Enterprises. In June 1972, a strike by about 300 PUTCO drivers won a 33.3% wage increase and the Transport and Allied Workers Union was formed.

Six years later Carleo Enterprises sold all their remaining services to PUTCO, comprising the Rand Bus Lines and Evaton Passenger Services and a year later Albino Carleo took over as Managing Director of PUTCO. At the end of the decade PUTCO acquired another company, the African Bus Service from United Transport in an acrimonious dispute.

1980 – 1990

In 1982, Albino Carleo and the Board of Directors established the “PUTCO Foundation” to contribute to the socio-economic upliftment of communities in which the company operated.

On 5 September 1984 a PUTCO bus was torched with a petrol bomb after PUTCO employees refused to participate in a national anti-apartheid strike. Two of the attackers were granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2001, as the third person was already deceased.

Mrs Marina Maponya became the first black person to be appointed as a Director in the company in 1986.

1990 – 2000

The entry of the minibus taxi in the public transport space had a huge impact on PUTCO. The fleet reduced from 3,440 buses to 2,500 and passenger numbers declined significantly from 353 million to 120 million passengers a year.

In October 1990 seven people died and 27 were injured when a PUTCO bus was attacked at KwaMashu, north of Durban. PUTCO formerly withdrew from Durban after suffering considerable losses in that region.

PUTCO started its first Joint Venture (JV) operation with Valuader (Pty) Limited from the Vaal Triangle in 1998 and the “Lekooa Transport Trust” was registered and a year later the “Ipelegeng Transport Trust” was also established.

2000 – 2010

In 2002 Nathi Khena became the first black Managing Director of the company and the “Asibemunye Transport Trust” was set up.

In 2004 Albino Carleo and a number of the Board members retired and a new Board was structured with Franco Pisapia at the helm. Soon thereafter, PUTCO de-listed from the JSE after sixty years to take on empowerment partners. The company achieved an important milestone in the history of the transport industry by completing a BBBEE scheme, empowering its more than 3,300 employees in 2006. It then became Putco (Pty) Ltd.