MyCiTi strike still underway in CT

Johannesburg - A strike by MyCiTi bus drivers entered its sixth day in Cape Town on Monday, the city said.

"Transport for Cape Town, the city's transport authority, is carefully monitoring the strike by bus drivers who are members of the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) and employed by TPI," Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport, said in a statement.

Transpeninsula Investments (TPI) is a MyCiTi vehicle operating company.

"Thanks to assistance from the other MyCiTi vehicle operating companies, as well as to some TPI drivers who are not members of Satawu and have therefore not embarked on strike action, the impact of the strike has been limited thus far," he said.

Since the strike began on Wednesday afternoon, all scheduled journeys on the T01 route between the Civic Centre, Table View, and Dunoon, and the Civic Centre-airport route hade operated normally.

"The feeder routes in the inner-city, however, still have a limited service, with all the routes operating with a bus every 20 to 30 minutes," Herron said.

"No incidents of violence or intimidation were reported over the weekend."

A small group of striking bus drivers gathered at the Civic Centre station around 07.30 on Monday and then moved to the Prestwich depot.

Law enforcement officials were on the scene to monitor the situation.

Herron said that at this stage it was not known when the strike would end.

"The dispute revolves around organisational rights and the interpretation of certain clauses in the recognition agreement between the two parties," he said.

"The matter was referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration for resolution in October last year, but remained unresolved."

The city apologised for the inconvenience and urged passengers to contact the transport information centre for the latest information regarding the MyCiTi service.