Cape Town commuters tried to force their way into buses after trains ground to a halt in Mitchells Plain on Thursday morning, Western Cape police said.
Trains were not running as power cables had been cut, Inspector Ian Willliams said.
Police were called and ”normality” was restored. Alternative transport was arranged for the train commuters. Nobody was hurt and no arrests were made.
Metrorail in the Western Cape said train services were back to normal on Thursday despite cable theft. Spokesperson Riana Scott said Metrorail believed the incidents were strike-related and an attempt to sabotage the full restoration of train services in the province.
”Train services in the Western Cape have improved sufficiently to offer [the] usual scheduled week-day service,” she said.
However, the Kapteinsklip/Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha service corridors could still experience delays because of a second cable theft in the area.
Metrorail’s parent company, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, warned it was not open to more wage negotiations, saying the four-day-old strike by the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) was not making any real impact.
However, Utatu was adamant its strike would continue until the employer put a new offer on the table. Utatu represents between 2 500 and 2 800 Metrorail workers, including train drivers and most of the administrative staff such as ticket sellers.
Utatu’s fellow union, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union, which is the majority union in the company, was not taking part in the strike. — Sapa