Transnet condemns resurgence of violence against colleagues who choose not to take part in the strike and commits to enhance security. Transnet condemns in the strongest possible terms the resumption of acts of thuggery, violence and lawlessness against our colleagues who are exercising their right not to take part in the five weeks old strike action organised by the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa.
Two more houses belonging to our colleagues at the Ngqura Container Terminal were attacked in the latest spate of violent attacks. The incidents occurred in the early hours of Thursday, 05 June 2014, in what seems like a coordinated campaign of terror and intimidation. The latest incidents, which occurred within 30 minutes of each other – both in Motherwell, take the total number of such attacks on non-striking Ngqura workers to 18. All the attacks have been reported to the Eastern Cape police.
On behalf of all the 60 000 of us at Transnet, we wish to thank the police for their swift response and continued support in our endeavours to ensure that our colleagues are free to exercise their constitutional right to work. On Wednesday, Numsa organised a mass meeting in Port Elizabeth where it vowed to intensify action against Transnet. The union, which does not have enough representation to be recognised at Transnet, organised a five weeks-old strike at the Ngqura Container Terminal. In the early days of the strike, non-striking colleagues’ houses were attacked but the bout of attacks subsided after interventions by Transnet and the police. The new wave violence has since resurfaced on Wednesday.
Transnet has offered a reward of R100 000 to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the perpetrators. This offer still stands and we urge our colleagues and members of the public to use this opportunity. This week, Transnet announced that as of Monday, 1 June 2014, all employees at its terminals in the Eastern Cape are now employed directly by the company. This follows a Transnet-wide decision more than six months ago to take a bold step of doing away with labour brokers in our core operations across the company. There are still 50 more vacancies to fill. The decision follows a long consultative process especially with the leadership of our recognised unions, SATAWU and UTATU SARWHU, which started last year. As a result, a total of 304 cargo coordinators, drivers for articulated trucks which run inside the terminals, port workers and shuttle drivers, joined the company between May and June.
Transnet Port Terminals