Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has urged bus drivers who have embarked on a strike over a pay dispute in Tshwane to respect the rights of other road users.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Minister urged the drivers to discuss their grievances with the municipality and desist from blockading roads.
Workers affiliated to the South African Municipal Workers' Union are demanding a pay increase of 18%. The drivers blocked several major routes in the Pretoria CBD on Monday and Tuesday.
“The city is not only the administrative capital of the country, but also a critical economic hub. A shutdown of this nature not only undermines the rights of other road users to access their places of work or centres of economic activity, but has the potential to deal a severe blow to an economy which can ill afford disruptions. It must not be allowed to continue,” the Minister said.
The Minister has called for the law to take its course, saying lawlessness must not prevail.
“Workers have a right to strike but they must do so within the confines of traffic laws,” he said. –SAnews.gov.za
