Workers who are affiliated to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) have embarked on a march to the City of Tshwane on Friday over a lack of transport allowances for all employees of Areyeng bus rapid transit (BRT) system.
Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said transport allowances have been a burning issue for workers in the transport entity of the City of Tshwane for a long time.
“They have been raising the demand for transport allowance and for safe reliable transportation for a long time and they have been ignored,” she said.
Hlubi-Majola said the bus drivers and other staff members normally knock-off late from work, and that this was not safe, especially for female workers, with the rise of violent crimes in South Africa.
“Workers start their shifts at 4am and knock off after 9pm. It is virtually impossible to get reliable transport at that time and to make matters worse, it is not safe at all especially for female workers,” she said.
“This is not just about money; it is a life and death issue.”
Hlubi-Majola has since apologized to the commuters on behalf of Numsa for the inconvenience the march will cause.
“We want to apologise in advance to commuters and to the public for the inconvenience that this march may cause. We would like them to understand that our members have no choice but to resort to protest action,” she said.
The City of Tshwane has confirmed that the Areyeng buse service remained suspended for today and encouraged commuters to make alternative transport arrangements.
Numsa’s march to A Re Yeng comes at the time when South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) affiliated bus drivers have also gone on strike at Extremetec demanding a transport allowance of R2 500 and a nightshift allowance of R60 per hour.
Extremetec is an agency responsible for fare collection services for the Areyeng BRT system in the city.
