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Parliament: New Prasa board urged to tackle urgent commuter issues By Suné Payne

At a briefing on Tuesday at which the new board failed to present itself, MPs questioned Prasa officials on everything from commuter safety at Metrorail to the entity’s lack of financial statements to Parliament. The new interim board of the Passenger Rail Agency of missed a Parliamentary meeting on Tuesday, attended by new Minister of Transport, Blade Nzimande. It had been Nzimande’s first meeting with the transport portfolio committee after being appointed to the position under the new President, Cyril Ramaphosa.

MPs were understanding about the absence of the brand new board, which was announced on Thursday, saying that members needed to first meet Prasa management. Chairperson of the committee, Dikiledi Magadzi told MPs the new board was not able to attend but were “willing and eager to come to the committee” in future.

The committee had a difficult time with the previous interim board, which repeatedly snubbed Parliament. In frustration, the committee had resorted to issuing a subpoena for the board to finally account to Parliament, as reported by Daily Maverick.

Prasa secretary Lindekhaye Zide and group head of strategy Sipho Sithole represented the agency at Tuesday’s meeting.

Nzimande told portfolio committee members that the commuter and management problems at Prasa and Metrorail needed to be fixed urgently. He identified one of the department’s plans for the year — the rolling stock renewal programmes, which will see new train sets added to the overburdened rail system. At this point, attention focused quickly on the issues of poor commuter service, especially with Metrorail in the Western Cape.

“Of course, buried in this is safety, especially Metrorail. It’s got to take all of us,” said Nzimande, referring to the need for all role players to work together to fix the issues.

Prasa officials were questioned on issues such as commuter safety, the entity’s relationship with the Railway Safety Regulator and most importantly, future plans to make trains available for commuters “tomorrow.”

“We wish this appointment {of the new board} was three years, not one year,” said Prasa secretary, Lindekhaye Zide, who stressed the importance of leadership stability at the embattled state entity. The management of Prasa felt the government “doesn’t take them seriously” by not appointing a permanent board, saying that leadership stability at the entity was needed.

Many MPs singled out commuter issues around Metrorail in .

Prasa’s corporate plan and annual performance plan was in the future, not for tomorrow, complained Manny de Freitas, committee member and DA shadow minister for transport. He wanted to know what immediate plans Prasa had to fix the safety for commuters.

Concurring, Terence Mpanza (ANC) put it simply by saying: “We want practical plans to say how we are going to fix this.” This was echoed by chairperson Magadzi, who questioned how Prasa could have a customer satisfaction rating of 59.49% when the committee had received so many complaints from the public.

Clearly sceptical about the rating, she appealed to Prasa officials to ensure proper communication was available for commuters to keep them informed about what was going on when travelling between stations.

Stressing the importance of finding solutions for the commuter crisis in Cape Town, Magadzi added,”it is very important that we look into the quick wins for the commuters”.

“I’m worried about the Western Cape. We are getting complaints daily,” said Mtikeni Sibande (ANC), who questioned the relationship between Prasa and the Railway Safety Regulator. The RSR is mandated to ensure regulations, safety standards and frameworks for railway transport in the country.

Zide admitted with the constant “stop and go” at Prasa with its board, the relationship between the entities suffered, but was hopeful under the new leadership that the relationship could be restored.

Another major talking point was that the entity had not submitted their financial statements for the financial year 2016/2017. It only submitted its corporate plan at the meeting.

DA MP Chris Hunsinger questioned the department’s oversight role since Prasa’s financial statements had been outstanding since September 2017.

Magadzi said that Prasa received the biggest chunk of the department’s budget, and they needed to know how the budget would be accounted for.

According to department of Transport data, of the department’s 2016/2017 budget of R56,407-billion, Prasa received just over R19-billion.

Magadzi appealed to Prasa officials to meet the new board ahead of the department’s scheduled budget vote in Parliament, to be held in mid-May.

Daily Maverick-18 April 2018

/ Thousands of commuters had to make alternative transport arrangements on Wednesday morning after talks between unions representing bus drivers and bus companies deadlocked. Bus drivers from at least 67 bus companies around the country were due to strike.

Getting to work or long-distance travelling was tough this morning as bus drivers from 67 bus companies turned off their engines as a result of a dispute over working conditions and remuneration.

Huge delays were reported in some parts of the country during rush hour this morning, with commuters forced to find other ways to get to work. The drivers work for companies providing municipal transport services such as the Tshwane Rapid Transit Bus Service and long-distance travel services such as Greyhound.

Negotiations reached a stalemate after the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and bus companies represented by the Commuter Bus Employers Organisation (Cobeo) and the South African Bus Employers Association (Sabea) failed to agree on several issues since January.

“The employers have pulled out of the talks. They are unhappy that unions served them with a 48-hour notice of strike. What that effectively means is the strike will go ahead,” Satawu spokesperson Zanele Sabela said.

Unions had obtained a certificate to strike on 16 March, but said they could not immediately embark on a strike action because of a mandatory 30-day cooling off period.

“The mediation process has failed and a strike certificate was issued… The cooling period ends on 16 April where after both the union and employers could issue a 48- hour notice to strike or lock-out. In the event of the 48-hour notice being issued, the strike/lock-out will commence on 18 April for a national strike in the bus industry,” read a statement from the South African Road Passenger Bargaining Council, a mediator in the talks.

Unions and employer associations been unable to reach agreement on several areas. These include:

 Salary increase: Unions are demanding a 12% increase while employers are offering a three-year agreement (7% across the board for the first year, 7.25% for the second and 7.5% for the third).  Minimum Wage: Unions want this to be set at R8,000 while employee associations have dug in their heels and insisted on a R6,070 minimum wage. Sabela said unions were also concerned that employers want any worker entering the industry for the first time after 1 April to be paid the R6,070 minimum wage regardless of whether the hiring company has a higher minimum wage. “There are companies with a higher minimum wage,” he said.  Standby pay: Currently a driver is only paid for their hours behind the wheel despite being on stand-by should the other driver get tired. “That’s ridiculous,” Sabela said, adding that “this thinking is obviously flawed because the driver cannot be elsewhere or do anything else but be on the bus from the time the trip commences”.  Night shift allowances: Drivers are currently paid R595 but insist that this is too little to cover overnight accommodation at even the cheapest places. “It’s just too little. Where have you slept for that amount? Often drivers are forced to sleep on the buses because they cannot afford accommodation.”

Bus companies that were affected include Putco, Metro Bus, Interstate, and Golden Arrow.

Several of those have issued warnings of potential disruptions to their customers. Golden Arrow Bus Services said in a statement on Tuesday night that a company- wide lock-out would be implemented “in order to ensure the safety of our passengers and staff for the duration of the strike”.

“In the event of a strike, weekly and monthly clip cards that were valid when the strike commenced will be extended when the service resumes,” it said in a statement.

Putco Bus Services said there was no means of providing alternative transport for their customers since they were one of the companies involved in the strike.

Asked when services might resume, Putco spokesperson Witness Mhlongo said: “The situation is unpredictable, but negotiations will still continue during the strike.”

The City of Cape Town also issued a statement alerting its 72,000 customers to the suspension of the MyCiTi Bus Services from midnight on Tuesday.

Commuters had to rely on taxis or other means of transport to get to their destinations.

Customers with monthly MyCiTi tickets will have their monthly packages extended to the number of days the strike lasts, the city said.

The five stakeholder unions, including Satawu, Numsa, the Transport and Allied Workers Union of South Africa (Tawusa), the Transport and Omnibus Workers Union (Towu), and the Transport and Services Workers Union (Taswu) said that the strike could only be averted by the tabling of an offer that ensures that workers were able to withstand the economic challenges brought on by the increase in the personal tax rate and VAT.

In Gauteng on Wednesday morning, supermarket workers to security guards, and even magistrates who are Rea Vaya customers, had to find alternative means to get to their destinations.

Meanwhile, the taxi industry took full advantage of the situation, and even went to the extent of bending their association’s rules in an effort to make full benefit of the financial opportunity.

A taxi driver who asked to remain anonymous said the strike was an opportunity to earn some extra cash. He said the best way to do so was to wake up early and make frequent early trips.

“I am sure bus drivers also take advantage when we are on strike in the taxi industry,” he said.

Other commuters chose to phone their bosses to explain and thereafter returned to their homes, while others were reminded of the existence of a written warning.

Commuters endured long waits for taxis at their various pick-up points in Soweto on Wednesday morning, but most taxis were full. Those taxis that normally pick these commuters up each morning were scrambling over to the Rea Vaya, Metro and Putco bus services customers.

Daily Maverick 18 April 2018