Fedusa wants Ramaphosa to deal urgently with Cape railway crisis

23 February 2018 - 07:34 By Nomahlubi Jordaan
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Train tracks. File photo.
Train tracks. File photo.
Image: Chuck Coker (Flickr)

The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to “urgently” intervene in the “crisis” at the central railway line in Cape Town.

Service on the line resumed last week after weeks of suspension due to vandalism‚ theft of cables and a strike by workers following the killing of a security guard.

“Over the preceding months‚ Fedusa and its affiliate and majority union at Prasa‚ the United National Transport Union (Untu) have respectfully and dutifully followed all the established channels of communicating their legitimate grievances starting with the Prasa regional management structures‚ the provincial government structures and the national ministry of transport to no avail‚” the federation said in a statement.

“Promises to look into these serious grievances and assist timeously by instructing Prasa regional management to follow through with action on the ground have not been forthcoming and as a result of the crisis‚ crime has spilled into the Central Line with hundreds of commuters being robbed of their personal belongings at gunpoint‚ small children injured‚ women indecently assaulted and some workers have been dismissed from their jobs – in the context of a dire economic situation – as companies increasingly lost patience with their late coming or failing to report for work on a repeated basis.”

The federation has called on Ramaphosa to walk around the Cape Town central station and take a ride to a working class suburb at peak hours to “experience the crisis at first hand”.


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