Wage negotiations between the parties deadlocked leading workers to down tools this week.
FILE: A Gautrain security official is seen standing at the door of the train at the Hatfield Station in Pretoria. Picture: AFP
JOHANNESBURG – Gautrain has announced a limited-service for Sunday between 9 am and 6 pm.
Operations were grounded to a halt on Saturday due to a strike by workers affiliated to Numsa over a wage dispute.
With no end in sight to the strike, Gautrain said some of its trains will come back online on Sunday.
Spokesperson Kesagee Nayager said: “This limited service will operate between 9 am and 6 pm. Trains will be available every hour. Please note Pretoria, Hatfield, Sandton, Park and OR Tambo stations will be opened, and these stations will be opened from 8:45 am until 6 pm.”
Earlier, Gauteng Transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo is called on the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the Gautrain to find common ground in order to end the indefinite strike by workers.
Wage negotiations between the parties deadlocked leading workers to down tools this week.
The move has led to major disruptions to Gauteng’s train services with customers notified all services will be halted this entire weekend.
Workers affiliated to the union have been on a no work, no pay strike since Monday demanding an 8% wage hike.
But Gautrain operator Bombela is only offering a 4% increase, saying it’s battling financial distress caused by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mamabolo said the prolonged strike will have dire consequences for commuters and their livelihoods: “We are deeply concerned about the fact that there is a strike and that commuters are definitely affected. To that extent, I have directed the government entity that is responsible for the Gautrain that they must engage the parties to ensure that the strike is resolved and is resolved immediately.”
