Employees working for Transnet’s service providers marched from Allandale Road along Waterfall Drive to the Transnet offices in Midrand on 18 September.
The workers claimed that service providers who work with the government entity take more money than they should, therefore, they decided to deliver a memorandum of understanding to the Transnet offices stating their demands.
One employee who did not want to reveal his identity due to fear of victimisation told the Midrand Reporter, “We are marching to the Transnet offices. We want them to insource security guards and cleaners because these labour brokers are derailing us. Sometimes we do not receive our payslips, when they fire an employee they do it in an instant without warning them and we have no medical aids.”
The employee claimed that Transnet protects its own assets. “Everything taken from the harbours is guarded by us, yet we are getting peanuts, all these services providers do not look after us they just take the money for themselves.
“Today we are going to say to Transnet, all the money you are handing over to these service providers should come directly to us, we do not want any middlemen. We want to be like the guards in the City of Johannesburg who have recently been insourced.
“Transnet is a government entity and I believe they can do the same, so they should practice what the City is doing.”
The South African Police Service, Johannesburg Metro Police and the Gauteng Traffic Police are at the scene, monitoring the march.
Motorists have been urged to use alternative routes as Waterfall Drive is occupied and blocked due to the ongoing march.
The Midrand Reporter could not reach the Transnet spokesperson for comment. This is a developing story which will be updated once comment becomes available.
Related articles: