Commuters’ raw deal

TOMORROW it will be three weeks since bus drivers in South Africa went on strike. Their protest action is about money. Bus drivers want more, but their bosses claim they can’t afford it.

The impact has been severely felt in Cape Town as many people travel by bus or rely on public transport to get to work.

What has made matters worse is that the taxi industry cannot cope with the influx of bus commuters, leaving Capetonians queueing from the early hours of the morning and stranded at taxi ranks late at night.

The rail network in Cape Town leaves a lot to be desired too.

Metrorail reiterates that it’s a daily struggle to maintain the ailing rail network while replacing vandalised cables as thieves bring the service to its knees.

And those who opt to travel to work by car are at the mercy of others or the rain.

In other parts of the country, such as Joburg, passengers have been inconvenienced. In KwaZulu-Natal, however, the impact has been limited as most people travel by taxi.

It is a story that has been playing itself out for decades in South Africa, as bosses and workers tussle over money with little empathy for the consumer.

This province needs a reliable public transport network or perhaps we need a different approach.

Compare this to a protest that bus drivers in Okayama, Japan, embarked upon last week.

Bus drivers in that country wanted greater job security but, at the same time, did not want to inconvenience their passengers.

So they continued to drive, but opted not to charge passengers, putting the bus owners under pressure. Not surprisingly, they won the hearts of their passengers.

Similar types of protest have taken place in other parts of the world, and perhaps it is time workers in South Africa took a more consumer-oriented approach to strike action.

If nothing else, they are bound to find more sympathy.