"Cabinet noted that the negotiations between the unions, Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), and Transnet were at an advanced stage," government spokesman Themba Maseko said on Thursday.
"Cabinet expressed the hope that the parties would do their best to reach a settlement sooner rather than later to avoid the huge cost to the economy and the untold inconvenience to commuters," he said following Cabinet's regular meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting noted that although there was nothing untoward with the number of labour negotiations taking place in the different sectors of the economy, as this is the "season of negotiations", Cabinet expressed the hope that all parties would ensure that negotiations were concluded speedily.
"While negotiations and strikes are an important part of democracy, government finds the violence that has accompanied some of the strikes in the past totally unacceptable," Maseko said.