South Africa

Court orders Prasa to reinstate security workers

Johannesburg – Following a recent High Court ruling that Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) must reinstate the services of companies that were employed by them, over 2 000 security workers are expected back at Prasa.

  Prasa had terminated the contracts saying it had no choice because former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found they had been awarded illegally. But the High Court said the way the contracts were terminated was itself illegal.

    Prasa terminated the contracts of security companies that employed over 2 000 security workers at train stations around the country at the end of last month.

  The High Court ruled that Prasa must reinstate the security companies and give them one month’s notice if the board decided to terminate their services again.

Prasa said it respected the court’s decision but investigations into the illegal contracts continued.

  The United National Transport Union (Untu) said since then, train stations around the country had been vandalised and the safety of commuters and staff was threatened. 

  On Tuesday security workers went on a rampage at Park Station in the Joburg CBD, looting shops, smashing windows, security gates and damaging a train.

  Prasa spokesperson Nana Zenane said there had not been any arrests over the incident: “These are criminal elements. The premise that we act on is that employees have a right to protest but we can’t link them to criminal activities until we have the necessary proof.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *