COSATU says Metrorail blocked their members from travelling to protest

On Saturday, 12 July, COSATU held a demonstration at Cape Town Station to demand improved train service and that Metrorail lower fares to the same as before the recent ticket price increase.
A few dozen people participated, a lower turnout than was expected. Demonstration leaders said that workers who headed to the city centre from certain stations were prevented by Metrorail employees from boarding the trains.
The demonstration was scheduled to begin between 10 and 11am, but by 11:30am, as music pumped through the plaza and police officers stood by, leaders were still waiting for a critical mass of workers to arrive. According to COSATU officer Mike Louw, union members were supposed to have been on the trains at 9 am. But at around 10 am, the COSATU leaders, who were already at the Cape Town station, found out from union members in Khayelitsha that âMetrorail workers werenât letting people get on the trains,â says Louw.
Louw says that, a week earlier, COSATU officials had alerted Metrorail officials to the demonstration so that Metrorail would inform employees at all stations. COSATU had paid for the workersâ train tickets, and the workers, identifiable by their union pamphlets or T-shirts, would tell the ticket sellers that they were heading to the demonstration. When he found out that workers werenât allowed to board the carriages, âWe told [Metrorail] that it would seem as if theyâre sabotaging us,â says Louw.
Members of the non-profit organisation Sobahlangula had also planned to demonstrate in solidarity with COSATU. COSATUâs pre-arrangement with Metrorail was also supposed to accommodate Sobahlangula demonstrators, says chairperson Lotta Mayana. But on Saturday, Mayana says, Metrorail employees at Khayelitsha, Malmesbury and Philippi stations did not allow Sobahlangula members without tickets to board the train. âThe Metrorail people told [the demonstrators] that they would disrupt business in town,â says Mayana.
When asked whether COSATU workers and demonstrators were denied access to the trains on Saturday, Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott replied via email that the allegations were âdevoid of truth.â
Zoghra Jaftha, a member of the Southern African Clothing & Textile Workersâ Union (SACTWU) who had come to the demonstration by taxi, said, âI was hoping we were going to get somewhere with a peace march.â But, around 11:30, she acknowledged, âThereâs not a lot of people here.â Workers want improved services but âdonât want to do anything about it,â she says.
At around 11:40 am, the union members who stood on the plazaâmost of whom had arrived by car or taxiâgathered in a semicircle to witness COSATU leaders Louw and Tony Ehrenreich hand the memorandum to Metrorail manager Richard Walker. Before signing the memo on behalf of Metrorail, Walker, who took up his position three weeks ago, responded. âWe donât want to make excuses,â he said, but, in order for long-term improvements to take place, âcertain lines will be affectedâ in the short-term. He promised that Metrorail would give an official response by COSATUâs 48-hour deadline.
By noon, the demonstration had ended and the small crowd dispersed. SACTWU regional organiser Sheila van Rensburg said she was surprised by the low turnout, but, âa lot of people are waiting for the actual day to strike.â She says she is confident that, when the day comes, âthe support will be overwhelming.â
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