Johannesburg - Rea Vaya bus drivers caused havoc and massive traffic congestion when they abandoned their buses in some Joburg city centre intersections on Monday.
Helpless motorists arrived at work late as they negotiated through the congestion, with traffic said to have backed up as far as the N12.
The drivers, who had arrived for duty at 4am as usual, picked up a few commuters and then abandoned their buses with the keys in the ignition during peak-hour traffic.
They then held an illegal gathering, leaving thousands of commuters stranded.
Neither their SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) representative, Deon Makhura, nor PioTrans, the company that manages Rea Vaya’s operations, knew about the protest action.
On Tuesday drivers were again strike, the company said.
"There has been no communication from the drivers or their union," Piotrans general manager Dumisani Mntambo said
"The company will start following the processes regarding company policies but there is no operation of the buses until further notice,” he said.
Spokesman for Rea Vaya, Benny Makgoga said he hoped the issues between Piotrans and the drivers would be resolved soon.
"We are hoping that there'll be some agreement reached but there are no guarantees," he said.
Commuters were urged to use alternative transport in the interim.
On Monday Makhura received a call from the police, who told him to come and disperse the drivers because they had gathered illegally in front of the Johannesburg Roads Agency’s offices.
Makhura said the drivers had told him they wanted to speak to people from the Department of Transport, but that could not be arranged because no one had been expecting them.
Makhura also tried to get hold of the member of the mayoral committee for transport, Christine Walters, but she was off sick.
The drivers then walked to Beyers Naudé Square, where they had an impromptu meeting.
Makhura said he had asked the drivers to write down their grievances, including working hours and salary discrepancies, so that they could be taken to the relevant people.
“They sometimes start at 4am and have a break at 9am. They will then have to be back on duty at 6pm and then knock off at 9pm.
It is not reasonable. Some of them have to leave their homes at 2am to be at work at 4am and only get to sleep at 10pm.That means they will have four hours before they are back at work. That is inhumane,” he said.
PioTrans collected the abandoned buses later in the day.
PioTrans said it had sent drivers SMSes and letters asking them to return to work.
The Star and Sapa