Quinton Mtyala and Dominic Adriaanse
COSATU said it will stage a one-and-a-half hour “strike” tomorrow to protest Metrorail’s tardy rail service in Cape Town.
Cosatudeputy provincial chairperson Andile Ngqaneka said the strike will only affect Metrorail’s offices on the Foreshore, and the union is demanding that the parastatal refund workers for the income lost due to their delayed trains.
“When commuters buy a ticket, Metrorail enters into a contract with them to deliver a service, should they fail to deliver the service then they must refund the ticket price. Metrorail must also refund the money that workers have to spend on alternative transport when trains don’t run effectively,” said Nqaneka.
Metrorail’s provincial spokesperson Riana Scott said Cosatu’s issue with Metrorail was the basis of engagements at the National Economic and Labour Council (Nedlac).
Scott said at one of the Nedlac meetings, it was acknow-ledged that Metrorail’s service delivery plan was in progress.
This included the refurbishment of the current rolling stock, and upgrading these to sustain services until Prasa’s modernisation programme delivered “critical mass to meet demand”.
“As the infrastructure is repaired we are able to improve punctuality, and as we receive refurbished train-sets from the contractors, we can add capacity to meet demand,” said Scott.
She said had Metrorail not deliberately been targeted with a series of arson attacks earlier this year, its services in Cape Town would have performed to much higher standards.
“It must also be noted that other Metrorail regions also suffered similar incidences of vandalism and that no spare capacity exists to re-direct to the Western Cape.
“Despite the setback trains continue to operate daily, complying with Metrorail’s conditions of carriage.”
Public Transport Voice (PTV), which advocates for the rights of commuters, questioned the effectiveness of Cosatu’s latest campaign and the impact this would have on commuters.
PTV spokesperson Dalton Ndongeni said: “There’s also the question of the inconvenience such action will cause commuters, especially during these winter months.”
PTV questions the legitimacy and the reasoning behind this strike campaign, said Ndongeni.
“We will support any campaign resulting in the long-term improvement of the ser-vice and well being of Metrorail commuters.”