The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) and its commuter rail transport affiliate, the United National Transport Union (Untu), plan to shut down Metrorail’s commuter train operations across the country on July 26.
Fedusa says the shutdown is part of a national day of protest against “extremely poor and dangerous Metrorail passenger train services” that violate all health and safety provisions and that are characterised by “perpetually late trains, deliberate acts of arson and endless fatal accidents”.
The objective is to force the Presidency to declare the passenger rail service crisis a “national disaster”, thereby facilitating the deployment of the South African National Defence Force to safeguard rail assets and combat railway crime.
Additionally, Fedusa and Untu want the Department of Transport, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), the Railway Safety Regulator and the South African Police Services to take immediate remedial action, including replacing old, broken or stolen infrastructure and equipment and reconstituting “a well resourced Railway Police”.
The planned shutdown comes after the National Economic Development and Labour Council awarded Fedusa a Section 77 Socioeconomic Strike Certificate in terms of the Labour Relations Act 1995.
This award enables all workers and society at large to take part in the protest march.
Fedusa says that while it wants to believe in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s dream, articulated during his second State of the Nation Address last month, “the nightmare our members have to endure daily on bullet ridden trains forces us to abandon the hope of bullet trains right now”.
Meanwhile, PRASA spokesperson Nana Zenani tells Engineering News Online that the agency respects employees’ constitutional right to participate in such protest action.
“PRASA will ensure that the necessary contingency plans are in place to ensure that the protest action does not negatively affect the operations of the business, in particular the movement of passengers,” she adds.