Pretoria - Only about 50 protesters turned out in Pretoria for a countrywide strike, meant to force the rail operator Prasa to "fix our trains".
Workers affiliated to the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) and the United National Transport Union (Untu) held marches, citing several concerns, mostly relating to the safety of employees in an environment where Metrorail security has broken down.
But in Pretoria, a fraction of the expected thousands of workers, converged at the intersection of Park and Burnett Street from 10am this morning and marched to the Union Buildings.
The protesters sang and chanted while armed police keep a close eye on them.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) said the march would have a major impact on the Metrorail commuter service.
Prasa spokesperson Nana Zenani said while the mass action could have a major impact on the service, “Prasa is planning to run a reduced service in the form of a Saturday or Sunday service timetable.
"This will depend on the demand and availability of Safety Critical staff to operate the service”.
Zenani said updates on service availability would be communicated on a regular basis.
Unions reached an amicable solution and a progressive way forward, after lengthy discussions and efforts, and were awarded permission to hold a strike and to stage a protest march which they are calling a “national day of protest”.
Some commuters also joined in the march and Bennett Makana from Wintervelt was one of them.
"I catch a train at Mabopane station and despite being there at 4am, It always arrives very late.
"Commuters have to deal with safety issues on a day to day basis, we are always getting robbed and nothing is being done.
"I've been using a train for the past ten years and the condition hasn't changed, it is really bad," he sad.
The protesters' memorandum was received by a representative from the Presidency, Jan David de ViIlliers.