The National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight and Logistics Industry (NBCRFLI) has said that because of the severity South Africa’s transport industry faces from criminal interference in its operations, it may have no option but to suspend services for a period.
In a strongly worded statement issued by the Council’s national secretary, Musawenkhosi Ndlovu, the NBCRFLI and its parties said it refused “to be held to ransom by non-unionised associations”.
This comes as it felt that the disruption of road freight in South Africa by non-registered labour lobbying groups and the failure of the South African Police Service to enforce court orders against illegal protests were causing the industry extreme duress.
The statement said that the council and parties to it “are perturbed by the protest marches and shutdown that took place in our offices last week, as the organisers of these marches and shutdown are interdicted from doing so by a court order which is still effective and binding”.
According to the NBCRFLI, it received no appropriate notices giving permission to such protests and, as a result, it questions the legality of these marches and the police’s failure to enforce the court order.
“The Council and the leaders of the Parties to Council refuse to be bullied and held to ransom and to be used as scapegoats of these attacks by associations that are not legally registered to represent employees and who want to operate outside the ambit of the South African Employment Law.”
In a bid to prompt the country’s executive leadership to act, the Council is now calling on South Africa’s highest office – President Cyril Ramaphosa – to do something about a situation that, over the years has received a blind eye from the powers that be.
The Council also expressed its hope that relevant government departments will do something about illegal resistance to non-South African truck drivers working in the local road freight sector, an old issue that remains largely unresolved.
In this regard, the Council mentioned the All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied South Africa (ATDFASA).
Previous appeals by industry for the Departments of Home Affairs, Labour, and Transport to take a collective and progressive stance in defusing job-protectionist violence, which for years has played havoc with transport in South Africa, have for the most part yielded naught.
Said the Council: “The ATDFASA is not registered as a trade union in terms of applicable laws and, as such, cannot make any demands on behalf of industry employees.
“The Council, together with its Parties, has advised ATDFASA and other associations on numerous occasions to collaborate with party unions or register with the Department of Employment and Labour, as this is mandated by law, and thereafter these associations would be welcome to then apply to be members of this Council. ATDFASA has until now not acceded to that advice.”
The statement continues: “The Parties to Council have negotiated, concluded, and signed the Settlement Agreement for the Industry which has already been promulgated by the Minister of Employment and Labour for implementation, effective from 1 March 2022, and it will not be reversed for any reason.
“It cannot be that an association that was not party to these negotiations can come afterwards and make demands – wanting to open these discussions through the back door, without following the South African Employment Law that they have been long advised to follow.
“The issue related to the employment of foreign nationals is a government matter, hence the Minister of Employment and Labour published a Draft National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP) and amendments to the Employment Service Act for public comments.
“Once approved, the Council will derive its guidance from this legislation. We do not understand why ATDFASA is referring policy matters to this Council, as they are also privy to this information and are part of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team that discusses these matters.
“Ensuing these senseless attacks, it may be necessary for the Parties to Council to shut down the Industry for a period of time, while we wait for the President and the relevant government ministers to resolve these matters.
“The Parties to Council are no longer willing to watch and wait for further attacks on their companies, which have cost innocent lives and billions of rand on infrastructure.”
