This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
BL Premium reports that statistics compiled by the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) show that the state of passenger rail infrastructure has deteriorated drastically over the past 12 months.
This has happened despite a new board, new management and a turnaround strategy put in place at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) by transport minister Blade Nzimande. Prasa has also yet to table an acceptable Annual Safety Improvement Plan to the RSR, which was ordered by court in October. Two versions of the plan have been rejected. Between January 2018 and February 2019, monthly manual authorisations grew by 400% and occurred on more than 1.2-million occasions. Manual authorisation, which involves a verbal conversation between the driver and the train control officer, introduces the possibility of human error and is responsible for most of the train accidents in SA. The most common reasons for manual authorisation were faulty tracks (30.3%) and faulty signals (23.7%), both a consequence of poor maintenance. Cable theft and vandalism was the third-most common cause of manual authorisation at 22.2%. The United National Transport Union (Untu), which is the majority union at Prasa, says its mother body Fedusa is applying for a Section 77 notice under the Labour Relations Act that will allow it to hold a protected strike over the train safety crisis. It has tabled the RSR’s statistics on manual authorisation to Nedlac as part of its application.
- Read the full original of Carol Paton’s report in the above regard at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page