Three days ahead of the 2018 Vodacom Durban July at Greyville Racecourse, the discontent among horse grooms at the North Rand Training in Johannesburg has spread to KwaZulu-Natal with protest action having started at Summerveld in Shongweni and Ashburton near Pietermaritzburg.A group of about 600 grooms and others attached to the Summerveld centre assembled near the main gate at 2am on Wednesday, demanding mainly wage increases.Trainers and jockeys were initially prevented from entering their stable yards, but trainers were later allowed in to feed and water their horses.A meeting with grooms’ representatives at Summerveld was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, while Ashburton trainers met a deputation of grooms on Wednesday morning and another meeting was scheduled for mid-afternoon.KwaZulu-Natal trainer Paul Lafferty said: "Grooms at Summerveld are being paid at least the minimum wage required by law, but there are a few other grievances we need to address."While the leaders of t...
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