News24 reports that stranded commuters in Cape Town formed queues at minibus taxi ranks and forced their way into already overcrowded trains on day one of a nationwide bus strike on Wednesday.  

Traffic services warned they would be monitoring minibuses for overloading as desperate bus users had to find alternative transport to get to work.  Senior Cape Town traffic officer Richard Coleman said that peak hour on Wednesday morning had not been much different than normal as it appeared most motorists had travelled to work earlier in anticipation of extra traffic.  The dedicated bus and taxi lanes, however, showed that more taxis were operating, he indicated.  Golden Arrow Bus Services, MyCiTi, Go George and Putco bus operations were among the services suspended as staff joined a national strike after wage negotiations deadlocked.

• Read this report by Tammy Petersen in full at News24
• See too, Metrorail to extend operating hours during planned bus strike, at EWN
• And also, 'Go the remote route' is Cape Town's appeal to employers as bus strike looms, at TimesLive

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page