SACP Gauteng Province on the dismissal of Gautrain Bus Drivers

The SACP Gauteng Province is dismayed by the recent dismissal of over 300 Gautrain bus drivers by their employer Mega Express. These workers have been at loggerheads with their employer to recognize their rights as enshrined in the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. It has come to our attention that workers in this company are denied the right to collective bargaining and the employer unilaterally decides on their conditions of employment.

As the SACP Gauteng Province, we condemn the suppression of the rights of these employees by the employer as it only exposes the conviction of Mega Express to subject the workers to undertake their working responsibility under unfavorable conditions. It is only prudent that the employer must provide transport to these workers, especially given that their shifts start at 4h00 in the morning ending at around 14h30, without food and reasonable break to go to restrooms.

We are also disappointed that the BEE partners in the Gautrain Consortium (Bombela) have not said a word whilst the workers are being exploited by foreign operators. We have also noted with contempt the intention of the capitalists, to subject workers into starvation whilst they stand aside to receive more profits made by the workers, all in the name of attracting foreign investment and developing local infrastructure. It is for these reasons that we, as the SACP Gauteng Province, will continue to fight sharply against the exploitation of labour by capital.

Statement issued by SACP Gauteng provincial spokesperson Pat Ntsobi on behalf of the Gauteng SACP PEC, February 8 2012

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