KZN Transport MEC called on to intervene in bus strike

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Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday called on KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Mxolisi Kaunda, to take immediate action to help contending parties in the bus industry find a swift and amicable resolution to ongoing wage negotiations. The call comes after the national bus strike entered day eight on Wednesday. Bus drivers have reduced their demands from a 12 percent salary increase across the board to 9.5 percent while employers have slightly increased their offer from seven percent to eight percent. Read more: #BusStrike: Driver 'can't survive' on salary Rafeek Shah, DA KZN spokesperson on transport, said the commuters countrywide were struggling to find alternate means of transport. "As the political head of KZN Transport, the buck stops with MEC Kaunda. It is his department’s mandate to ensure the provision of a safe and efficient transport service for the province's commuters," Shah said.

"Currently, this is not the case and on Monday night an Intercape bus, with 60 passengers on board, came under a hail of rocks and bullets while traveling on the N3 near Hammarsdale outside Durban. Fortunately there were no fatalities but allegations have been raised that the incident may be connected to the strike."

Shah said that the strike was doing damage to KZN's economy and was also alarming given that Durban is one of the busiest ports on the African continent.

He said that the DA expects Kaunda to prioritize this issue and work with his national counterparts to resolve it.

African News Agency/ANA