Protesting Tshwane bus drivers ‘likely to be fired’
The City of Tshwane has vowed to bring to book the bus drivers who blocked busy intersections in the CBD during the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) protests this week.
MMC for Roads and Transport Sheila Senkubuge says they have managed to recover 40 buses and are downloading data from the buses to identify the different drivers who took the vehicles.
"We had difficulty in getting the buses back since the drivers found a way to disable them. On Tuesday a special operation was put together who were able to get the buses started.
"This is tantamount to theft. We have already opened criminal charges to those who have been identified and the remaining bus drivers will be facing a disciplinary hearing and are most likely to be fired from their jobs."
The city’s bus services remain suspended until further notice.
Samwu is involved in a wage dispute with the city and is seeking an 18% wage hike, which it claims was granted to group heads but excluded lower-level employees.
Tshwane bus drivers blocked the streets of the Pretoria CBD on Monday and Tuesday, leaving several main routes in the city centre gridlocked.
On Tuesday the city obtained a court interdict against protesting bus drivers as it believed the strike to be illegal.