A two-month strike by Johannesburg’s Metrobus drivers ended on Wednesday, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) said. Buses are expected to run again from Tuesday next week.
The strike was called over sick leave and the dismissal of some employees.
Samwu Johannesburg branch chairperson Moatlhodi Mongale said the agreement was signed by the City of Johannesburg’s manager, Mavela Dlamini, at about 12.30pm after Metrobus’s MD, Bheki Shongwe, refused to do so.
“We [Samwu] are happy with the agreement and the outcome and want to congratulate the city manager for providing leadership when he was required to do so,” said Mongale.
The city and Samwu agreed to reinstate three shop stewards and 19 employees. The shop stewards, who were “unprocedurally” dismissed, will be reinstated and given a written warning.
Mongale said the 1999 conditions of service will be reinstated for six months — until October — to deal with the disputed matter of accrued sick leave. Those with accumulated sick leave may bank those days and access them when they are sick.
The city suspended the bus service on March 20 as a result of safety concerns after incidents of violence, including the murders of three bus drivers.
The city was not immediately available for comment.
Talks aimed at ending the bus strike reached a stalemate on Tuesday last week. At the time, Samwu accused the municipality of negotiating in bad faith but municipal spokesperson Gabu Tugwana dismissed the allegations as misleading.
Dlamini introduced a new negotiating team from the municipality on Friday and assured the union that the new delegation had a full mandate to negotiate and reach an agreement.
The situation was nearing resolution a few weeks ago, when most of the 971 striking workers returned to work. But a violent incident near Krugersdorp in which two bus drivers were killed caused Metrobus to suspend its services for safety reasons. It was suspected that striking Metrobus employees were responsible for the attacks.
The municipality said 21 violent incidents had been recorded since the strike started, including murder, attempted murder, vandalism, armed robbery and intimidation.