Truck drivers spending nights sleeping in their vehicles say cargo coming to the City Deep port, the biggest Transnet terminal inland, has declined.
“We transport tobacco in containers from the warehouses around here to the port. We have not moved anything this week.
“We are scared that in December our employer can say we made less money and therefore not give us any bonuses. The strike is really hitting us hard,” said one of the drivers.
There were no trains or trucks delivering goods at the port on Tuesday.
Police manned the gate, monitoring striking workers who sang Struggle songs demanding a higher wage increase.
A long queue of trucks, which take containers from nearby warehouses into the port, was waiting to hear that the strike had come to an end.
United National Transport Union’s Kaserne chairperson Lucky Mokoena, said the port, which handles over 100 trucks and 15 trains a day, was completely shut down.
“Even the shunters who sort out the railway stock are not working here, so there are no goods that will move. We have not had any training running for the past two days. Our word to the employer is that they must make life affordable for their employees with a better salary,” Mokoena said.
Striking Transnet workers have detailed their struggle to cope with rising living costs.
Workers at City Deep inland port in Johannesburg said accepting an offer that is below the 7.6% inflation rate would not enable them to cope with food, transport and fuel prices which have risen substantially since the beginning of the year.
Rorisang Monyaki, who has been working at Transnet for 11 years,earns R26,000 a month as a foreman for shunters who prepare the trains and consignment for different destinations.
“If I get an increase that is above inflation it will mitigate for the increases in food, fuel and other expenses that I have experienced over the year. Things are really tough at the moment. My current salary cannot keep me afloat,” Monyaki said.
He takes care of two school-going children and spends R1,500 on their transport. He spends R2,000 on fuel, R7,000 on rent and R3,000 on groceries. He still has to pay about R1,500 on municipal rates and taxes.
He has to put money in his savings, investments, pay loans and car insurance.
Winky Mngomezulu, who works as a shunter, said the cost of living had risen so high that she has been forced to leave her car at home and use public transport.
Mngomezulu earns about R23,000 and has been with Transnet for 11 years.
“I have been forced to remove my daughter from a student residence at university to an affordable place because I could not cope. It is tough living with the current salary,” she said.
Mngomezulu spends R7,500 on her daughter at university and R1,500 on her son’s transport costs to school. Her groceries cost R3,500 while she spends R2,500 on her own transport costs.
She spends R1,500 on municipal rates and spends another R1,500 on gas per month.
On Tuesday, the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) rejected Transnet’s revised offer of 5%, insisting that the state-owned company should at least beat the inflation rate of 7.6% to end the strike.
dlaminip@sowetan.co.za
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