by Lindiwe Mabena | Feb 14, 2021
It is a sad day for Johannesburg long distance commuters and students who were hoping to make their way to Park Station to catch the Greyhound bus ahead of the new semester, as the company will cease to operate on Sunday.
The Luxury passenger coach announced its decision earlier this month, marking an end to 37 years of service.
It is also the end of the road for its subsidiary, Citiliner.
Unitrans, which owns Greyhound, has cited lockdown regulations, like the banning of interprovincial travel and curfew, as having played a role in its financial distress.
Many South Africans have expressed sadness at the move, which will see close to 700 workers losing their jobs.
Workers’ union, Numsa, has described this as a serious blow to workers and their families.
According to the company’s website, Greyhound used to service close to a million passengers a year, while Citiliner carried half a million a year.
by Lindiwe Mabena | Jan 19, 2021
SABC workers will take their fight against retrenchments to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Gauteng, on Wednesday.
Workers affiliated to the Communications Workers Union (CWU) will embark on a nationwide strike, demanding a halt on the job cuts.
They have slammed the planned retrenchments as senseless and are accusing management of having negotiated in bad faith.
CWU wants the public broadcaster placed under administration.
The employees will be marching through a motorcade from the organisation’s headquarters in Auckland Park in a bid to ensure social distancing amid the crippling COVID-19 pandemic.
The SABC management says a no work no pay principle will apply.
It’s rejected claims that it has cut corners in implementing the Section 189 process and insists it is above board and the job cuts are necessary to boost the coffers of the cash-strapped public broadcaster.
by Lindiwe Mabena | Jan 11, 2021
Workers of Amothole District Municipality might not be paid for four months.
The organisation is citing low revenue collection, drought that has besieged the district for years now and the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons for this.
The municipality says it has collected less than 25% revenue in the first two quarters of the 2020/2021 financial period.
A high salary bill is also an issue. “The norm for salaries as communicated by the National Treasury is between 25% to 40% and ADM is by far beyond the norm and the overall salary bill consumes the entire Equitable Shae allocation which is meant for municipal operations and service delivery projects,” the municipality says in a circular spokesperson Nonceba Madikizela-Mavuso has confirmed as legitimate.
The municipality has been paying salaries from overdrafts and says this has proven to be unsustainable.
It says it is working on turning around strategy and hopes to avert the non-payment of salaries for February to June.
It is also pinning its hopes on government’s intervention.
Traditional leaders and councilors will also be affected should the municipality’s Financial Recovery Plan fail to bear fruit.
A South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) protracted strike in the district in late 2020 brought service delivery to a halt.
The workers were demanding salary benefits, rejecting the municipality’s claims of being in the red.
They were also calling for the head of municipal manager, Thandile Mnyimba.
They accused Mnyimba and municipal directors of having applied for performance bonuses.
A charge Mnyimba has dismissed as untrue.
