[lbo-talk] Undoing privatization

Patrick Bond pbond at mail.ngo.za
Mon Jul 13 02:13:49 PDT 2009


Tripartite alliance rethinks Durban bus privatisation Paddy Harper Published:Jul 12, 2009

The ANC and its allies in KwaZulu-Natal want to reverse the privatisation of public transport following the collapse of a black economic empowerment deal that has left Durban without a municipal bus service.

The ANC, Cosatu and the SACP all now believe that municipalities should run public transport.

Cosatu and the SACP also want to end the sale of municipal assets to private companies and are supporting a bid to halt the multimillion-rand sale of the city’s early morning market to private developers who plan to build a shopping mall on the site.

Cosatu is expected to come out against the privatisation of municipal assets when the issue is discussed at a provincial congress on Wednesday.

The SACP’s provincial leadership, which began a two-day meeting yesterday, is expected to take a similar stand.

Last week ANC provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala said the party’s provincial executive committee had already resolved to review existing policies.

“We believe that the decision to take buses back to municipal ownership is the correct one. It is dangerous to give basic services to the private sector and lose control ... you just cannot privatise services that have to do with the community. These must stay with government,” he said.

Zikalala said Premier Zweli Mkhize had appointed task teams to deal with the immediate crises in transport and land sales.

***

The Mercury

Bus drivers pin hopes on ruling

July 13, 2009 Edition 1

Kamini Padayachee

DURBAN bus drivers employed by Remant Alton are hoping an interim interdict preventing the bus company from firing them will be made final in the Johannesburg Labour Court today.

The Transport and Allied Workers Union of South Africa, which represents the drivers and other employees, secured the interim interdict from the court on June 30.

The union's general secretary, Zack Mankge, said the drivers were hopeful that the order preventing Remant Alton from firing them would be made final when the matter resumed in court today.

Remant Alton has been beset by financial, labour and other problems that have seen the service suspended time and again.

The company ceased operating its service last month, on the grounds that the non-payment of government subsidies of R8 million a month had crippled it.

Last week, Tansnat Africa was appointed to take over the Durban Transport bus contract until September, 2010.

Mankge said the union wanted to ensure that drivers were not excluded when the new operator took over. "The appointment does not change the situation for the drivers."

He said it would not be easy to secure the final order as both the municipality and Remant Alton were opposing the application.

The drivers and other employees have not been paid since June 30, pending the outcome of the court case.


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