Road corporation denies involvement in labour dispute with traffic police

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has denied involvement in an “ongoing” labour dispute with a union allegedly representing the Gauteng Traffic Police (GTP).

“We are not aware of any dispute,” spokesperson Simon Zwane told Rekord.

This after the DA’s shadow MEC for community safety John Moodey claimed the said dispute was delaying the process of the GTP being declared an essential service.

“The ongoing labour dispute between the union and the RTMC is delaying the process of declaring the GTP an essential service,” he said in a statement earlier this week.

In the statement, Moodey claimed roads were not safe as the GTP unit did not work 24 hours.

READ MORE: North traffic leaves motorists red in the face

“The GTP do not work night shift but only work up to 22:00,” he said.

He explained that this was the response given by community safety MEC Faith Mazibuko when she responded to his oral questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

“By declaring the GTP an essential service it means that they will be able to provide 24-hour monitoring of Gauteng freeways,” Moodey said.

He added there was a need for the unit to work 24 hours as most accidents and incidents of crime allegedly happened at night.

“Declaring the GTP an essential service will reduce the excessive expenditure on overtime, improve working conditions and increase benefits for the traffic police and will also have a positive impact on reducing crime and increasing road safety.”

“We call on MEC Mazibuko to prioritise road users’ safety by intervening to speed up the process of resolving this labour dispute,” Moodey said.

The community safety department had not yet responded to Rekord’s enquiry at the time of going to press.

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