The City of Tshwane says it will take action against disgruntled metro bus drivers who abandoned their posts this week, leaving many in the lurch including school pupils writing mid-year exams.
This is not the first time the city-owned Tshwane Bus Services has had to suspend its operations. In January, bus services were temporarily suspended due to fuel shortage.
The metro, which is run by a DA-led coalition, has described the latest action by members of the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) as an illegal labour action.
“The members are alleged to be aggrieved about overtime payments and salary increases. The city’s management will institute labour processes to ensure that bus drivers return to duty and that normal operations resume,” the municipality said in a statement on Tuesday.
“In line with the collective agreement, the city’s labour relations unit will issue a letter informing the Samwu regional office to direct its members to return to work within 48 hours.”
Samwu, the largest trade union in the local government sector, representing more than 160,000 of the country’s estimated 350,000 municipal workers, is an affiliate of labour federation Cosatu and a key ally of the ANC.
Samwu Tshwane deputy regional secretary Valentine Matlala told Business Day it was a “complete lie” that the workers’ grievance was about salaries.
“Workers are not striking based on salaries. In the main, this matter is about occupational health and safety issues dating back to May 2022, which have not been resolved,” Matlala said.
He said Tshwane Bus Services employees were working under unsafe conditions with no lighting, no functioning toilets, and cleaning materials for the buses.
“The buses are not cleaned properly with chemicals, they is no material to clean them such as soaps and sanitisers, also the sewerage system in the depots is constantly blocked,” Matlala said.
“The toilets are not working, they are blocked and not operational at all. I’m even afraid to ask our female colleagues where they go to relieve themselves.”
On Wednesday, City of Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said it was wrong for the union to bring bus services to a standstill over ablution facilities.
“Yes, occupational health and safety is an important issue, I’m not downplaying it and I’m not refuting what they are saying, but they have not raised such with management. We urge the drivers to be considerate and return to their posts,” Mashigo said.
He stressed the city had not received any formal grievance from the bus drivers. “The strike has affected a customer base which gets services from 160 buses on weekdays. With workers having not shown up for today’s [Wednesday’s] morning shift, it is not yet clear if the afternoon shift will resume. Therefore, commuters are again urged to seek alternative transport arrangements,” he said.
“The city deems the abandoning of posts as an illegal action and intends to deal with the absconding employees through the municipality’s labour processes. As soon as there is an indication of the resumption of bus operations, the city will communicate accordingly.”
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