Cape Town - Cosatu in the Western Cape is threatening a mass protest at the end of next month against the state of transport in the province.
The trade union federation said workers encounter dangerous situations on trains that are always overcrowded.
It added that workers also lose money and face disciplinary action because they often arrive at work late due to the unreliability of Metrorail. Commuters also have to deal insufficient security.
“MyCiTi buses needed to be deployed in a manner that prioritised the Cape Flats and complemented trains in the short term due to the problems.
“The areas that are the best serviced by the bus service are those with mainly white households.”
Cosatu slammed the provincial government’s inaction about public transport services between rural towns and farms.
Cosatu’s Tony Ehrenreich challenged the City of Cape Town, Prasa, the provincial Transport Department and the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry to come up with a resolution before the end of next month.
“If there’s no resolution next month, all 16 Cosatu affiliates with 220 000 members will embark on a strike action that will see transport throughout the province disrupted.”
The mayco member for Tansport, Brett Herron, said: “It is time for Ehrenreich, who sits comfortably in both the ANC and Cosatu, to come clean about their attempts to derail Phase 2 of the MyCiTi bus service to the metro south-east.”
Herron said Phase 2 of the MyCiTi service will serve the communities of Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Philippi among others, who are battling with an overcrowded and unreliable Metrorail train service.
Provincial Transport and Public Works spokesman Byron la Hoe said the department was currently in the process of developing and implementing a Provincial Public Transport Institutional Framework in response to the capacity and financial constraints at local level.
The framework proposes that the provincial government partners with priority municipalities to plan, implement and manage improved public transport networks, support the development of local capacity and provide supplementary funding for these improvement initiatives.
“The department has and continues to assist all local municipalities with the development and implementation of their integrated transport plans, through the provision of funding and management support,” La Hoe said.
The chamber’s president, Janine Myburgh, said she understood Cosatu’s frustrations with the poor rail service in the Western Cape, but could not understand how a strike would help.
“We agree that the rail service has deteriorated over the years and that the service on some of the lines leaves a great deal to be desired.”
Myburgh said Cosatu was concerned that its members were losing pay and work opportunities as a result of the poor rail service, but they would lose even more pay if they went on strike.
“We are also concerned because strikes and protests have a history of turning violent, leading to injury and the destruction of property,” she said.