Johannesburg - Rail commuters in many parts of Gauteng were forced to make use of alternative transports as the Federation of Union South Africa (Fedusa) and United National Transport Union (Untu) embarked on a strike.
According to Passenger Rail Services of South Africa (Prasa) spokesperson Nana Zenani, they have recognised that the mass action on Friday was not a labour strike against the entity, but a Fedusa led mass action against the government.
Among some of the two unions' demands are that soldiers patrol the railway lines, that the Department of Human Settlement and municipalities relocate squatters living very close railway lines and that Prasa management ensure a safe and healthy working environment for employees.
Nana said the Fedusa led mass action was joined by Untu which is a majority union at the entity.
“This means that while Untu members are granted permission to participate in the mass action, not all Prasa employees will be participating,” she added.
Nana said with the workers that are on duty, the entity will run a reduced service, which is similar to that used on weekends as the majority of safety critical staff may be participating in the mass action.
“We will continue to monitor the situation on the ground and we will start getting reports from our operational meetings to ascertain the type of frequency and the number of trains that will be running,” she added.
She said the entity maintains that employees who decided not to join the mass action have not been intimidated in anyway by the management but took the decision to work independently.
Affected routes are:
Johannesburg - Dunswart - Daveyton
Johannesburg - Springs
Springs - Nigel
Germiston - Kwesine
Germiston - Kliprivier
Germiston - New Canada
Johannesburg - New Canada
Johannesburg - New Canada - Vereeniging
Johannesburg - Oberholzer
George Goch - Johanneburg - Naledi
Johannesburg - Randfontein