Tag: Johannesburg

Strike violence causes traffic chaos near Johannesburg airport

Three people were injured in protests by striking truck drivers in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, on Thursday morning, metro police said.

“Up to now we can say three people [have] sustained injuries following truck protests around 7am,” said Inspector Kobeli Mokheseng.

“There were calls coming in on Thursday morning that on the R21 to Pretoria, one light delivery vehicle was burned, and truckers stoned two trucks.”

He said the R21 north to Pretoria, opposite OR Tambo International Airport, was closed.

“The R24 is affected going east and, if you are on the R21 going towards Pretoria, it is affected up to Griffiths Road offramp,” said Mokheseng.

“We are diverting traffic from East Rand Mall heading to Pretoria and… directing it on to the Griffiths Road offramp.”

Traffic on the R24 was also being redirected from Barbara Road.

“No arrests have been made. Police are dealing with the situation as it is happening,” he said.

Meanwhile, wage negotiations between the Road Freight Employers’ Association (RFEA) and unions remained deadlocked.

RFEA spokeswoman Magretia Brown-Engelbrecht said the situation had not changed since Wednesday.

“We have committed ourselves to being available for further talks. Nothing has been forthcoming thus far and we shall see where we go,” she said.

“We are hopeful that between today [Thursday] and tomorrow [Friday] we can get the process going again.”

The unions involved are the SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu), the Professional Transport and Allied Workers’ Union SA (PTAWUSA), the Transport and Allied Workers’ Union of SA (TAWU) and the Motor Transport Workers’ Union (MTWU).

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PTAWUSA road freight co-ordinator Puncho Ndevu confirmed that the situation remained unchanged on Thursday, with unions in discussions among themselves regarding the next step forward.

About 20,000 workers in the road freight transport sector have been on strike over wages since Monday.

Unions have reverted to a 12 percent pay demand after rejecting a lower offer tabled by employers on Tuesday.

The RFEA had proposed a staggered increase of 8.5 percent effective from March, and a further 0.5 percent from September next year. – Sapa

Cosatu fat cats enjoy five-star luxury

Delegates to the Cosatu conference in Midrand were noticed this morning at the Palazzo Hotel at Montecasino where they were tucking into breakfasts costing R200 per head. All the delegates at the hotel in Fourways, Johannesburg, were dressed in their red T shirts and wearing black caps.

These members of the working class who normally fulminate at executive salaries were staying in a hotel costing between R3000 and R5000 ($400 to $800) per night. A cup of coffee costs R20 and a drink anything from R50 upwards.

White elderly couple’s throats slit

Johannesburg – Gauteng police have arrested two suspects in connection with the murder of an elderly couple from Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg, this week, according to a report on Friday.

Marie Sim, 68, and her husband Leon Sim, 71, who ran Anneliens Guest House in Creswell Park, were both found with their throats slit, Beeld reported.

According to the couple’s eldest son John Sim, his parents had had a long-standing dispute about money and the loan of a generator with a tenant who lived on the property.

“Wednesday was D-Day. My dad would have demanded both the money and the generator, otherwise he planned to lay a charge of theft with the police,” he told Beeld.

The bodies were discovered on Thursday by the couple’s domestic worker, Thembi Radebe.

Leon Sim’s body was found in the garden, while Marie Sims was found in her home. The suspects had tried to burn her corpse by pouring swimming pool chemicals over it and setting it alight.

Reacting to a tip-off from the public, police managed to arrest a male and a female suspect within a few hours. – Sapa

Strikers set Johannesburg trains on fire

Several train carriages were on fire in Soweto and Braamfontein on Wednesday night, Johannesburg emergency services said.

“Around 9pm we got a call that three moving train carriages caught fire at the New Canada railway station in Soweto,” spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said.

Nobody was injured. Around the same time emergency services received calls about several more train carriages on fire in Braamfontein, central Johannesburg. Firefighters were at the scene.

It was suspected that striking Metrorail workers were responsible for the fires, Mulaudzi said. – Sapa