Durban - Bus drivers employed by Tansnat Africa operating the Durban Transport fleet marched to the Durban City hall on Monday after bringing parts of the city to standstill when they blockaded the main roads with their buses early in the morning.
They are demanding better pay and permanent employment.
At the crack of dawn on Monday, hundreds of passengers were stranded and had to seek alternative transport when bus drivers abandoned their vehicles along some of the major routes N2 and N3 heading into and out of Durban, KwaMashu, Newlands and Umlazi.
The bus driver's action caused massive traffic delays into the city which also affected passengers from the Ntuzuma depot servicing KwaMashu and Newlands.
By mid-morning, most of the buses that were blocking the roads had been removed.
Ethekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda denounced the blockading of roads with buses calling the action unlawful which would have a negative impact on the economy.
“This is an act of treason and economic sabotage, to say the least, and those responsible must face the full might of the law. Our economy is very strained by Covid-19 and this unlawful conduct is compounding our woes. Transnat must move with speed and resolved whatever issues they have that resulted in this inconvenience," Kaunda said.
"The management should have records of which driver took which bus to where. As a result, we are expecting the bus operator to discipline such drivers. We apologise to all residents and business that have been affected by these incidents and we are doing everything possible in our power for the situation to return to normalcy. This is a country that is governed by laws and all of us should respect the rule of law no matter what grievances we may have,” Kaunda added
Among other grievances, bus drivers want to be permanently employed by the municipality. The city has already started a process for a municipal entity that will take over the operation of busesThe drivers, who wished to remain anonymous said that they had handed a list of grievances to management at the Ntuzuma bus depot a week ag
They enquired about back pay and their provident funds.
Drivers said that management had not taken their grievances seriously had not responded to the issues they raised.
Last week when the eThekwini Municipality executive committee requested approval of the roadmap for the establishment of the municipal entity to operate the Durban Transport services and participate by private individuals and/or entities in the Municipal entity.
The report is tabled on the background of the report approved at the council in 2018 to enhance the public transport system of Durban. Priority groups as per the Radical Economic Transformation Framework and Supply Chain Management Policy (2019) will be considered
Daily News