UPDATE: Four Sanral workers shot at strike

MIDRAND – Sanral contract workers take to New Road and N1 to voice their grievances on 3 May.

May 3, 2016

Thandi Ntobela 2 minutes read

About 200 Teti traffic employees contracted to SANRAL striking for salary increases.

UPDATE: 3 May 2016, 4:30pm – Five strikers were injured when Metro Police opened fire at them using rubber bullets at corner Olievenfontein Road and the N1 on the afternoon of 3 May.

This is according to strike organiser, Praisewell Nsibande, who frantically called ambulances to the scene. According to Nsibande, other strikers were also shot however they have been detained by police.

“We were walking to Midrand CBD when they were shot,” said Nsibande.

He said they were struggling to get taxis home because taxi drivers did not want to associate themselves with the strike.

“I tried to look in to the van that other members are being held in but police would not allow me,” he said. “Some people have told me that the people in there are bleeding,” said Nsibande.

Zanele Sabela, media officer for Satawu said the incident was as a result of media personnel leaving when the strike dispersed. “The police were okay all day long, I don’t know what provoked them to do this,” said Sabela.

Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson of the Metro Police said the shooting took place a little after 3pm when strikers refused to disperse.

“The police requested that they disperse however they refused,” said Minnaar.

He said police fired rubber bullets as the strikers threw rocks at police.

“Five protesters were injured due to the rubber bullets and the fence along the road, as they were running,” said Minnaar.

He also said that metro police arrested eight of the strikers, “Three women and five men. They will be charged at Midrand Police station,” he said.

INITIAL REPORT: The South African Transport and Allied Worker’s Union, Satawu, has rejected claims that they are demanding a 130 percent salary increase for their workers.

Read the previous story

The workers are outsourced by Teti Traffic to the South African National Roads Agency, Sanral, to clear accidents off the roads of Gauteng. On 3 May, the workers, whose services normally lead to the decongestion of roads, blocked the New Road off-ramp in Midrand and parked their vehicles in some N1 lanes heading towards Pretoria.

“The roads have been cleared and the protesters are now on Samrand Road on their way back to Sanral offices in Midrand,” said Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson for Metro police. He said they had deployed two tow trucks to move the vehicles that were blocking the N1, however, the owners of the vehicles saw them coming and moved them, which resulted in traffic moving again.

Satawu’s spokesperson, Zanele Sabela, said the strike was necessary as the workers had not received a pay increase in the past four years. “Our list of demands include medical aid, a provident fund and a 13th cheque,” said Sabela.

Satawu also tabled their pay level increase demands:

General workers from R4 325 to R6 000
Basic life support staff from R4 680 to R9 000
Traffic safety officer from R6 000 to R7 000
Traffic management centre staff from R6 600 to R12 000
Senior operators from R13 000 to R16 000
Technicians from R4 325 to R13 000.

“The employer has offered us zero percent,” said Sabela.

“We have heard through the media that they want to offer workers seven percent.” She added that seven percent was not enough to adequately compensate for lost increments and bonuses.

Sanral has been contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publishing. This is a developing story.