NUMSA strike over ‘fishy’ R50-billion Transnet tender

The president of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) Andrew Chirwa led his members on a march from locomotive and rolling stock manufacturing firm Commuter Transport and Locomotive Engineering (CTLE) Nigel to the Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality (EMM) building in Hendrik Verwoerd Street on October 16.
The march was against what they call a ‘fishy’ R50-billion Transnet tender.
Communities from the areas of Kathlehong, Duduza and KwaThema joined in the march and presented a memorandum of demands to the Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters.
“As NUMSA we have serious doubts about whether there is a practicable story to tell about government’s infrastructure program. Looking at the response we have received from government thus far, it seems like the Transnet deal is the second ‘arms deal’ taxpayers had to face a few years back”, Andrew said in his address in front of the EMM building.
NUMSA’s deputy general secretary Karl Cloete told the press that the tender which is the first tender of R201-billion earmarked for Transnet Freight Rail, has been awarded to four foreign companies, excluding key South African locomotive manufacturing firms that NUMSA operate in such as Union Carriage and Wagon (UCW) and CTLE, both Nigel based companies.
Andrew called upon the government to review the R50-billion tender to build 1064 locomotives that was awarded to foreign countries and now threatens 250 scheduled workers’ jobs at both the UCW and CTLE plants.
“We demand that the government, who is a stakeholder, prioritise South African companies with significant local capacity in the production and manufacturing of rolling stock and locomotives in the state-owned company’s infrastructure investment”, Andrew stated.
Karl encouraged members to stand in union and fight against what they believe is unreasonable and erroneous.
“As a union we should not fold our arms while Transnet promotes crony capitalism through fronting and elite enrichment in our country”, Karl concluded.