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Buses at a bus depot.
More than 1,100 employees of North West Transport Investment (NTI) spent Christmas without pay after going five months without their salaries. In a bid to get authorities’ attention, workers, supported by the SAWU-YA BASHUMI union, staged protests in Mahikeng and camped in the Mmabatho CBD for seven days leading up to Christmas.
The workers’ frustration grew as they were told the North West provincial legislature had approved a R75 million budget to cover their outstanding salaries. However, despite the approval, the provincial Department of Transport has refused to release the funds, citing the company’s current business rescue status.
The department has insisted that the Business Rescue Practitioner (BRP) be held accountable for the management of the funds before any payments can be made.
One worker, speaking out about the hardship, explained, “We have chronic diseases. As we speak, I am asthmatic and I don’t even have medication. Some of us were taken by ambulance because we were ill. Our children can’t go to school. Now, it’s January, and we don’t have money for university fees. NSFAS says we qualify, but we don’t have the money. We can’t even go home. Our policies have lapsed; our parents are sick. We don’t know what to do.”
The workers have been waiting for a resolution for weeks. Many were forced to stay in Mahikeng without any answers.
The situation has grown more desperate as the new year begins and their financial struggles continue.
The provincial legislature confirmed the R75 million allocation for NTI salaries, but made it clear that the money would only be released after a verification process was completed by the Department of Transport.
The department’s verification process was delayed after the BRP appealed a court ruling that removed him from his position. As a result, the process was halted, and the workers’ salaries remained unpaid.
Freddy Sonakile, chairperson of the Legislature’s Transport Management Committee, says the department had won a court case to remove the BRP and had sent in an acting CEO to start the verification. However, due to the BRP’s appeal, the process had stalled.
The workers, meanwhile, were told repeatedly that their salaries would be paid before Christmas.
Lebusa Mamaregane, General Secretary of SAWU-YA BASHUMI, says, “After the R75 million was approved, Comrade Dr Hans Kekana made it clear to workers that they would be paid before Christmas. We understood that the money would take a few days to process, but now, it’s January and still nothing.”
The Department of Transport, however, insists it will not release the funds until the legal issues between the department and the BRP are fully resolved.
Alpheus Koonyaditse, spokesperson for the department, stated that they had successfully removed the BRP through the North Gauteng High Court, but the BRP has since indicated plans to appeal.
“We will not release any funds to the entity until the matter between the BRP and the department has been completely resolved in court,” Koonyaditse said.
