JOHANNESBURG – It is no longer acceptable to fire employees working for Bombela, the operator of the Gautrain, if they defend themselves against commuters who misbehave and physically and verbally abuse them, the United National Transport Union (Untu) said on Sunday.

Untu welcomed the recent judgment by Judge Edwin Tlhotlhalemaje in the Labour Court ordering the immediate reinstatement of Untu member Clifford Morake with retrospective effect, including payment of back-pay totalling R191,354.52, Untu general secretary Steve Harris said.

The court dismissed Bombela’s appeal against a ruling made by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) that Morake’s dismissal was procedurally and substantively unfair. Tlhotlhalemaje replaced the sanction of dismissal with a written final warning to be placed on Morake’s employment record, he said.

Untu welcomed this judgment as a step in the right direction. Its members working for Bombela and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) were confronted daily by commuters who had no respect for them or regard for their lives. They were shouted at, spat upon, and "told that they will be burned alive".

“For two long has there been a tendency of the management of Bombela and Prasa to put the commuter first, irrespective of the conduct of the commuter, ignoring its legal obligation towards its employees to provide a safe working environment,” Harris said.

Morake was on duty as station manager of the Gautrain Midrand Station on October 13, 2012 when he was called to assist with a difficult customer at the ticket office. He asked what the problem was and explained Bombela’s rules and regulations to a woman commuter.

Her boyfriend joined the group and he explained the rules and regulations to him as well. The boyfriend told Morake, “I don’t f...g care, let my girlfriend out”. Morake called security personnel to assist as both commuters smelt of alcohol, were rude, uncontrollable, and had continuously hurled profanities at him.

They yelled at him, saying Morake was "another black manager" and continued the verbal abuse while pointing fingers at him. "During the tirade reference was made to Morake’s mother’s private parts and he was accused of incompetency," Harris said.

"Morake continued to ask the boyfriend to vacate the station but to no avail, as the latter continued with his verbal abuse. It was at that point that Morake had made physical contact with the boyfriend by touching him on the shoulder, neck area and back, to remove him from the station. He had ultimately succeeded in removing the boyfriend from the station."

Judge Tlhotlhalemaje said the two commuters were clearly under the influence of alcohol, were vulgar, obstinate, abusive, and generally un-cooperative with Bombela’s staff present trying to help them or to contain the situation.

“On Morake’s uncontested evidence, the abuse and vulgarity were particularly directed towards him, and in the most personal and lewd manner. The commuters had clearly broken the rules of Gautrain at the time, more particularly regarding the use of the Gautrain card, the re-entering of the station, running on the platform when she had no reason to, being unruly and under the influence of alcohol, and failing to co-operate with authorised members of staff when requested to do so,” he said.