LIMPOPO – As thousands of people have been left stranded following the nationwide bus strike which began yesterday, those travelling to Moria will receive transport.
Moria, as with every year, is expected to host thousands if not a million pilgrims.
Zion Christian Church (ZCC) spokesperson Emmanuel Motolla says the Bishop spoke to Putco representitives and told them they could not disappoint millions of church goers.
“We have received confirmation from Satawu and Putco that buses will be on the road tomorrow morning. All ministers from church will help to contact bus drivers to be at work tomorrow morning to transport people,” he told Review.
At this stage, busses will only be transporting to Moria.
“The Bishop told the parties that they cannot drop the millions of members who want to go to church, an event they look forward to for a whole year,” Motolla concluded.
Deputy Manager of Putco, Andrew Sefala, confirmed to Review that the buses will be running tomorrow. “The 9% increase has been accepted by three of the five unions. We are contacting bus drivers who have left for the weekend to return, in order to transport passengers from Gauteng and parts of Limpopo, especially Sekhukhune and Groblersdal to Moria,” said Sefala.
Thursday 13 April
LIMPOPO – The strike involving bus drivers from 16 organisations countrywide is still ongoing, with both spokespersons from local Great North Transport, Patrick Monkoe, and the Putco bus service, Witness Mhlongo, reporting early today (Thursday) that no wage settlement has been reached yet.
Negotiations are ongoing with unions and bus companies are hoping for a settlement. Taxi owners however are using the opportunity to make an extra buck. Sipho Makoma, provincial Manager of the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in Polokwane,
which presides over both long and short distance taxis, said while taxis usually transport around 65% of commuters, the extra 20% will be handled with ease. He said ZCC church people will make their own arrangements with taxi owners to transport them to Moria for the biggest annual ZCC gathering.
Some small private bus companies were still operating, but were afraid that their bus drivers may be intimidated. Review phoned the spokesperson for the ZCC but he was unavailable for comment.
Wednesday 12 April
POLOKWANE – The South African Road Passenger Bargaining Council and other role players are still continuing with negotiations to end the countrywide bus drivers strike which started on Wednesday.
In a press release the council said there were almost no buses on the roads.
“We continue engagements with parties to settle the wage dispute as fast as we can,” the statement reads. The council was expecting a memorandum to be delivered to the General Secretary of the National Union of Metal Workers of South Afria (Numsa) by 12:00 Wednesday.
The bus drivers strike comprises drivers from 16 of the country’s largest bus companies represented by five unions. Some companies, like Golden Arrow instituted a lockout and suspended operations fearing damages to buses and injury to passengers and bus drivers.
This is bad news for millions of commuters readying themselves for the big Easter trek to Moria and ZCC church celebrations who have already booked and paid for tickets, or intended to use bus transport, as well as commuters who travel to work every day.
It is expected that around 35 000 buses would have started transporting churchgoers to Moria near Polokwane from today (Thursday). Many of the companies do not sell tickets before the event, but work on a basis of payment just before passengers board the bus.
In Polokwane drivers from Great North Transport (GNT), and other countrywide operations such as Greyhound, Golden Arrow, Putco, Megabus, Autopax, and other companies joined the strike after unions submitted a 48-hour strike notice on Monday following wage negotiations reaching a deadlock. They are represented among others, by South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), Transport and Omnibus Workers Union (Towu).
Patrick Monkoe,
Spokesperson for GNT yesterday said they were still in constant contact with unions with the aim to negotiate a speedy resolution. The bus company operates in Limpopo and also transports passengers to Zimbabwe, owns 540 buses on 279 networks, transports 37,6 million passengers per annum and travels around 36 million km per annum. Monkoe said it especially will affect all workers and people intending to go to Boyne, near Moria for the Zion Christian Church meeting over the weekend.
The Putco bus service, which liaises directly with the head of the ZCC, are also unable to render services to transport passengers to Moria, according to their Spokesperson, Witness Mhlongo. She said the company is contracted to transport passengers for the Department of Transport on a daily basis, which they are unable to do.
Bus drivers demand a 12 to 15% increase, a 40-hour work week, double pay for working on Sundays and public holidays as well as a night shift and long distance allowance. Employers offer 7,5 % annual increase over a three-year period. Last month the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) entered into the negotiations. Putco was busy with last minute negotiations on Tuesday to avert the strike.
The company transports thousands of ZCC church goers annually to Boyne to attend the big Easter and September gatherings of the church.
Read more: Bus strike to leave commuters stranded
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