Cleaners hold protest outside Durban Transnet offices over unpaid salaries

Outsourced Transnet cleaners engaged in an unprotected strike in Durban over unpaid wages on Thursday.

Workers under Masihloniphaneni Trading — a company outsourced by Transnet to provide cleaning services — staged a stay-away on Ely Road in Bayhead, Durban.

Justice Duma, one of the protesting workers, said they had not been paid their May salaries more than a week after their supposed payday, which they said was a regular occurrence.

“This is the second month in a row that this has happened to us in this company. Contractually we have to be paid on the 25th, but last month we were paid on the 30th. This time it’s been over a week, but nothing has been communicated to us,” he said.

Duma said Masihloniphaneni got the Transnet cleaning tender in April, replacing a service provider called Hlabane Trading. He said the Transnet made sure the new service provider retained the workers.

Comparing the two, Duma said both companies had been paying them later than the agreed-upon pay date, but the difference was in communication.

“Under Hlabane our payday was the 15th, but we would end up getting our salaries a week later, sometimes on the 30th. I would still prefer them because whatever was happening they communicated with us. We knew on which day we can expect our salaries this month so we could plan our things. Now we don’t know what is going on,” he said.

Another worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he only got his April salary last week and it was for two weeks’ work.

“What’s worse is that the employer does not want to communicate with us about this. We were with the previous tender for two years, and the same was happening except that there was slightly better communication,” he said.

“We signed a 3-month contract in April with this one, we don’t know what will happen after that.”

Three other workers said they also received half of their April salaries last week.

A Transnet official from management who met the workers assured them the problem was not with Masihloniphaneni. He put them on a call with a senior official who confirmed that Transnet had not paid the service provider for the two months.

He said the company would release the funds to the service provider on Thursday, but it may not immediately reflect because they used different banks.

The senior official promised, however, that Transnet would send proof of payment as soon as it is paid.

Despite the cleaners not being aligned to any union, leaders from the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) engaged them on their grievances and promised to find a solution together with Transnet and the service provider.

Satawu’s national co-ordinator with Transnet, Jason Kunene, said they had asked a manager from Transnet Property to set a meeting with the affected parties within 24 hours to explain what happened and discuss a way forward.

Workers agreed to go back to work for the time being.

Transnet did not immediately respond to queries.

TimesLIVE