Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) and the United National Transport Union (Untu) members pickected outside the provincial Transport Department offices in Johannesburg, 26 July 2019. Workers demands improved rail services including the safety of commuters on trains. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Metrorail trains are operational and functioning normally after Friday’s strike action, reports EWN.
Members of the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) and the United National Transport Union (Untu) embarked on a national protest in Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria to object to a dangerous and dysfunctional environment.
“Prasa [the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa] doesn’t move with the times because manual authorisation is not reliable. You can’t even see the train coming, unlike if they use a digital system,” Untu deputy secretary-general Dan Khumalo said.
“Our members end up making a mistake of authorising the train, while the track is occupied and [this] results in train collisions that cause death. This doesn’t only affect our members, even the commuters are not safe, and some lost their jobs because of always arriving late at work,” Khumalo said.
Fedusa spokesperson Frank Nxumalo called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to ensure safe and reliable passenger rail services “while critical infrastructure and signalling equipment are permanently replaced”.
Protesters handed over a memorandum to members of the department of transport yesterday, to be submitted to the office of the presidency.
Unions are demanding that army and police be deployed on trains, and want Prasa to comply with occupational health and safety regulations.
Embattled Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) were forced to operate trains on a Sunday schedule due to the strike.
Additional reporting by Anastasi Mokgobu
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