Transnet workers’ lives go off the rails after axing
THOMAS Radebe’s dream of seeing his children through tertiary education may be shattered if he is not reinstated at Transnet.
Radebe, 55, was among the more than 500 employees sacked or retrenched by Transnet for participating in an illegal strike last year.
While some of the staff were fired for protesting against long working hours, some were shown the door after Transnet restructured its operations.
In the process, employees who had long service claimed to have been sidelined which left them fuming, resulting in them taking to the street.
Radebe worked in the Rehabilitation, Maintenance and Emergency (RME) division at Transnet’s Umbilo depot.
The first group of employees was fired in 2015.
Radebe is part of the second group who were sacked in December.
The groups have been fighting to be reinstated since with no success.
“As an illiterate person my dream is to see my children acquiring tertiary education so that they can become better people. I don’t want them to go through the pain I went through as an uneducated person,” said Radebe.
Of his six children, Sibusiso, his eldest son, completed his diploma in financial accounting at the Durban University of Technology in 2015 but was still unemployed, Linda was still studying at Unisa, Nosipho was in Grade 12 and the other three were all in primary school.
His wife Nompumelelo, 54, was unemployed.
Radebe wanted all of his children to have tertiary qualifications. But as things stand, his dream is far from becoming a reality.
Radebe, who lives in Umlazi, south of Durban has worked for Transnet as a contract worker for eight years.
His job included repairing and maintaining train tracks.
The workers, who met last week to find ways of getting Transnet to reinstate them, said they were fired for wanting their working shifts to change.
They claimed Transnet was against their proposal which led to the stand-off resulting in their axing.
They approached their union, the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) which they claimed also failed to help them, accusing it of siding with the employer.
As a result, some ditched Satawu and joined its rival, the National Union of Metal Workers of SA.
The matter is now headed to court.
At the age of 55, Radebe said it was difficult for him to find employment elsewhere.
“Who would want to employ an old man like me?
“It’s difficult for young people to find jobs and it’s even worse for us as old people.”
Another former employee, Khonzani Kunene, 27, who was permanently employed in 2011 under the Transnet National Ports Authority, said his life changed for the worse the day, “I was told to pack my bags and go.”
“I’m willing to do anything to go back to work. My life is a mess and my family is suffering,” said the father of four who lives in Inanda, northern Durban.
When he was still employed, Kunene would give his 54-yearold mother, who lived in Eshowe a minimum of R1 000 a month. “But now I don’t send her anything because I have been unemployed since 2015.
“It’s a struggle to even provide for my wife and kids.”
Like Rabebe, Kunene said his dream was to be given his job back.
Satawu provincial secretary Edgar Mbina said: “We are handling the matter because some of them are still our members.
“But the fact remains that they engaged in an illegal strike,” he said.
KZN Numsa provincial secretary Mbuso Ngubane confirmed the union was representing some of the fired employees.
“Transnet is doing everything to block us from assisting the workers. But we will fight on,” he said.
Transnet spokesperson Molatwane Likhethe said the axing was done in line with the company’s policies, including consultation with the affected employees.