Tshwane confirms October return of its bus services
The Tshwane metro plans to resume its bus services after the drivers were forced to punch in for work at depots and stay there during working hours due to the violent protests over two months.
Tshwane has confirmed that its two bus services will resume operations by October 1 following the two-month-long forced drivers hiatus that had led to their suspension.
Due to the violent and unlawful strikes in the metro, bus operations halted after buses were pelted by stones and drivers intimidated by disgruntled Tshwane employees allegedly aligned to the Independent Municipal & Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and South African municipal workers’ union (Samwu).
Tshwane had previously announced the resumption of service on September 13 but this turned out to be a false start.
The city was forced to suspend the resumption claiming that no commuters were willing to use the services due to the prevailing strike.
The metro was later given the green light to continue running the two transport revenue streams when the Labour Court in Braamfontein, Johannesburg called for the destruction and violence in the metro to cease after weeks of fire and brimstone.
On September 15, the court made its interim interdict of July 28 permanent giving Tshwane a one-up against its striking employees.
Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said: “It can be confirmed that bus services will return not later than October 1.”
“All bus operations will resume in line with the TBS and A Re Yeng operational plan, and cover all routes operated by the two bus services.”
Bokaba said the metro had initiated preparatory work to resume services following the court’s final order.
Gauteng ActionSA chairperson Funzi Ngobeni said on Tuesday his party had concluded a successful meeting with Samwu to help end the ongoing strike action in Tshwane.
Its multi-party coalition partner, DA, had maintained it would not negotiate with the unions because Tshwane’s dire finances did not allow it.
Ngobeni said the adverse impact of the strike on service delivery required intervention.
“As a committed partner of the multi-party government, ActionSA agrees that the city’s finances should be stabilised following years of instability and we continue to stand against any form of vandalism of public property.
“However, this must be balanced by the legitimate request of municipal unions who qualify for salary increases – as recently confirmed by the South African local government bargaining council (SALGBC) – and the consequent need for stability of service delivery in Tshwane.”
He said his party had raised concerns with the multi-party coalition management committee.
“ActionSA engaged mayor Cilliers Brink, urging a departure from the dismissal of municipal workers’ concerns and rather to engage proactively with unions in the best interest of the residents of Tshwane.
“This meeting did not find agreement and therefore the matter has been referred to the national coalition oversight group.
“While there have been some efforts to misrepresent ActionSA’s position on this matter, it is necessary to point out that the signed multi-party coalition agreement commits all coalition partners, including Brink and the DA, to building stable and effective relationships with the unions that improve service delivery to residents.”
Ngobeni said ActionSA saw no winners in the current strike action but deterioration of relations between the unions and Tshwane and suffering for residents.
“It is not good enough for Brink and the DA to force residents to live without refuse removal or other basic services to avoid the rational need to sit down and engage the unions in order to achieve the compromise that gets service delivery back again,” he said.
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