By Johannah Malogadihlare
City of Tshwane has informed its bus commuters that bus operations resumed on Monday, following last week’s labour dispute.
The city’s bus services were disrupted by what Tshwane claimed to be an illegal protest by employees affiliated with the South African Municipal Workers Union.
Last month, 31 bus drivers affiliated to SAMWU, appeared before the City’s disciplinary committee. They were served with charges for participating in an unprotected strike in May this year.
Tshwane said that the process was underway to serve 33 of the bus drivers with dismissal letters.
“The protesting group was disputing the disciplinary committee’s dismissal verdict after they appeared before the citie’s committee last month,” said City of Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashego.
According to Mashego, 128 bus drivers reported for duty on Monday.
“This effectively means that the 160 bus routes, which are normally serviced on weekdays, will have 32 fewer buses today (Monday) and in the days to come, as the city is still in the process of replacing the dismissed drivers,” said Mashego.
“The shortage will see some of the routes either experiencing delays in the scheduled times or fewer buses, as some of the on-duty drivers will be diverted to the high-volume areas.”
The city apologised to the commuters who were adversely affected by last week’s disruptions and to those who will be experiencing delays or no busses at all.
Mashego also said the city is expected to update its residents on the areas that are likely to be affected by the issue.
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