Denying reports of a change in its position on the Gautrain, the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu) provincial branch on Tuesday maintained its opposition to the high-speed rail link.
The Gauteng branch of the tripartite alliance had urged the provincial government to talk to Cosatu about the federation’s concerns, said Cosatu Gauteng chairperson Phutas Tseki.
”This in no way contradicts Cosatu’s submission under Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act to initiate protest action against this project,” he said.
Cosatu called for a moratorium of the project in November, calling it ”pure elitism at its best”.
It is absurd that the government would spend billions of rands on a train to serve the elite, while workers had to cope with unreliable public transport, said Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
The money should instead be used to upgrade the bus and train services, he said.
Cosatu’s central executive committee called for the project to be put on hold until a comprehensive public-transport system had been developed.
In March, Cosatu Gauteng announced that, failing talks with the government, it would conduct a national strike against the Gautrain project sometime before July.
While the Gautrain was aimed at reducing highway congestion, what was needed was mass transit from townships to cities for the poor, using existing structures like Metrorail, but with upgraded carriages and safety, Cosatu said. — Sapa