The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes tentative progress made paying North West Transport Investments (NTI) workers’ salaries. COSATU and its affiliate, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (SATAWU), have held numerous meetings with NTI’s management and Business Rescue Practioners with the support of the Premier of the North West, Mr. Lazarus Mokgosi and the Minister for Transport, Ms. Barbara Creecy.
We appreciate the Minister and Premier’s interventions to ensure that these long-suffering workers were paid for November and December, albeit late. Some of these workers are reported not to have been paid for up to 14 months. Further engagements have taken place over the festive period with commitments for workers to be paid for over the next three months and for work to be done on settling outstanding salaries owed to workers as well as their third-party deductions, including taxes, pension and medical aid funds.
COSATU will continue to actively monitor this dire situation with SATAWU and the workers. It is critical that NTI honour its obligations to workers in full.
We are deeply concerned by reports that some of the busses of NTI have been impounded. This is an urgent matter that NTI must resolve. We expect the North West Provincial Government to provide the necessary support and accountability in this regard.
NTI and the North West and Gauteng Provincial Governments with the support of the National Department of Transport, must ensure that a coherent turnaround plan is put in place to enable NTI to fulfill its contractual obligations to its employees as well as to the working-class communities it has committed to service.
Given the allegations of serious corruption and malfeasance surrounding the NTI, COSATU urges the Presidency to task the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) to investigate any criminal activity that has occurred at the NTI and to ensure the culprits are dealt with by the South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority.
Issued by COSATU
Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)
Mobile: 082 785 0687
Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za
