Numsa considers downing tools as wage talks with Gautrain deadlock
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) members march to Comair offices in Kempton Park on 15 March 2022. Picture: Michel Bega
As Gautrain celebrates its 15th anniversary on Tuesday, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) says it will be balloting its members to determine whether it will be going ahead with a strike at the Gauteng rapid rail network.
This comes after wage increase negotiations with Bombela Operating Company – which manages the Gautrain – reached a deadlock.
Numsa rejects 4.2% increase offer
Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said in a statement that the union was granted a certificate to strike, which means it can give Gautrain 48 hour notice to down tools.
'Our members rejected the employer's offer of [a] 4.2% wage increase [for] Gautrain workers because this is not a meaningful increase,' Hlubi-Majola said.
'We are demanding [a] 7% increase across the board. While management clings to the Consumer Price Index as a benchmark, workers are living in a country where the cost of survival has skyrocketed far beyond the consumer price index (CPI),' she added.
Question of affordability
According to the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group, the average food basket now costs an estimated R5 443.
Citing this information released by the non-profit organisation in June, Hlubi-Majola said Gautrain's offer is paltry.
She said the lowest-paid Gautrain worker, a cleaner, earns approximately R9 000 and can't be expected to absorb the increases with a 4.2% increase.
ALSO READ: Numsa to meet Nissan SA over reported Rosslyn plant closure
Workers 'deserve a living wage'
This is not just a wage dispute, Hlubi-Majola said; it's a question of dignity and fairness.
'The demands we are making are reasonable given that the cost of living is extremely high. This is why we say CPI increases are not enough – workers at Gautrain deserve a living wage,' she said.
'Gautrain's world-class performance with over 7.9 million passengers annually and a 95% punctuality rate is only made possible by the very workers now being told to 'tighten their belts' while executives remain insulated in air-conditioned offices.
'The same executives are rewarded with generous packages, when it is ordinary workers whose labour is exploited in order to generate Gautrain's world-class performance.'
Hlubi-Majola said Numsa's demand for a 7% increase is a modest, reasonable adjustment that reflects the real cost of living in South Africa today.
Rather than a luxury, it's a lifeline, she said.
Numsa calls for meaningful offer
'We call on the Bombela Operating Company and the Gautrain Management Agency to put a meaningful offer on the table. Workers are not asking for miracles; they are asking for economic justice. We all have a responsibility to end wage inequality, and that includes the bosses at Gautrain.'
Gautrain, which was launched in 2010, has completed over 200 million passenger trips and employs approximately 1 200 people.
NOW READ: Outa calls for 'open cards' amid Gautrain changes
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
6 hours ago
- IOL News
Trump's firing of statistics executive Erika McEntrfer is very disturbing
That US President Donald Trump fired Erika McEntrfer the executive of the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics is very disturbing, says the author. Image: Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP The late Dr Wole Adegboyega, a United Nations expert who served as my advisor on the first post-apartheid census of South Africa, told me of a story about questioning the integrity of census numbers. He was a consultant in Sierra Leone during a count and the number they presented was rejected off hand by the president who said, 'My son you no sabi how to count. Plenty people dey de for forest and make you commot count em. I beg oo my son.' This means that there are more people in the forest that have been missed and not counted. That Trump fired Erika McEntrfer the executive of the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics (US BLS) is not new in the practice of official statistics, but it is very disturbing. Many in the world of labour statistics, which measures the labour market dynamics that includes unemployment have trained at this prestigious US BLS. The Chief Statistician of the United States sits in the Office of Management and Budget. The responsibility of such a person is that of an associate director for data and governance-wide policy - a data steward so to say. This office is tied and enjoined to the global statistical system and practices of the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the United Nations Statistical Commission, which the late Chief Statistician of the United States Katherine Wallman chaired. The burden of chairing the commission is no light task – I felt the weight of responsibility when I did. On Friday, 1st of August, the D-day for tariffs, US President Donald Trump axed McEntrfer. The firing comes after the employment figures showed a sluggish job creation – only 73 000 jobs were created in July. 'I believe the numbers were phony ... so I fired her', so dismissively argued President Trump for dismissal of a professional that holds the key to statistics – state facts. More than anything else President Trump was driven by belief rather than evidence and on the basis of his personal belief, he transformed this into a presidential decision to fire McEnter. Stalin very much like Trump did worst. He did not only order the arrest of his chief statistician but he actually ordered his execution. In 1937 Olimpiy Kvitkin was first arrested and shot dead in 1937. The reason was that his account of the population of the Soviet Union revealed a population lower than what Stalin had announced as the total number of people in Russia. In 2012 Minister of Finance Moreno decided to fire Argentina's honcho of consumer price index (CPI) Graciela Bavacqua for refusing to publish falsified inflation indices. In 2013 March I was one of the guest speakers at the UN Statistical Commission on the abuses of statistics. I raised several abuses in different regions of the world including by South Africa under my watch. The mention of Argentina was a sore part on the part of the Argentine delegation who stormed out of the 400 delegates meeting uttering profane as they huffed and puffed out of the meeting. In 2014 I invited Bavacqua to StatsSA to share the roque politics of interference in official statistics in Argentina. In 2017 I was pleasantly surprised when I received a note verbal via the South African Mission in Argentine that appreciated my efforts to get Argentina Statistics on a credible path. Greece tortured and tormented Andreas Georgiou, the head of ELSTAT for revising the national accounts statistics of Greece. He faced death sentence if he was found guilty by the Greek Justice system. From 2012 to date Georgiou faces accusation of simple slander. The accusation means that the content of the accusation is true but may cause embarrassment to the accused. In 2019 President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey fired Sait Erdal Dincer who was his Chief Statistician. The reason was that the inflation numbers were galloping at 36% and Erdogan did not believe the numbers. President Trump's namesake, Prime Minister Donald Tusk fired his Chief Statistician Dominik Rozkrut. In 2021 Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić of Montenegro removed Dr. Gordana Radojević from the position of Director of the Statistical Office (MONSTAT) in a controversial dispute on when and if the census of Montenegro could be held. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Canada after a colourful career of Ivan Fellegi Chief Statistician Emeritus who was Canada's Chief Statistician for 25 year and an employee of StatCan for at least 50 years, tells a story of distabilisation after his departure. Politics played the mice whilst the big cat disappeared. Two chief statisticians of Canada decided to fall on their swords within six years of departure one from the other than to give politicians the pleasure of pompously firing them. Munir Sheik just under three years resigned in 2010 and was followed by Wayne Smith who resigned in 2016. The position of Statistician General is in the firing line. Politicians are often pompously unaware of the damaging effects of their deep ignorance. With the latest victim being the chief statistician of the US bureau of Labour Statistics, the line of fire and bone of contention is measurement of political performance. Statistics are facts about the state just like economics is about facts about the economy. Napoleon the Bonaparte is said to like statistics so much that if you promised him measurement upon which he would make a decision, Napoleon would grant you the freedom of the city. While not a statistician in the modern sense, he utilized numerical data for military strategy, administration, and even propaganda. His impact on statistics was indirect, but significant, particularly in shaping the development of statistical institutions and practices in France. In fact, I can attest to the fact that the French statistical training institutions display very deep knowledge in methods – ENSEA in Cote d Ivoire where I sent some of the staff members for training from StatsSA has shown this deep appreciation and practice in methods. For those with two brain cells to rub together, it has always been clear that the consequences of Trump's DOGE combined with tariffs was a toxic concoction for job losses, at least in the short run, but also a lasting medicine to be taken advantage of for countries that have depended on deceptive US markets. Accepting tariffs or being retaliatory about them given the weak US strategy could be the way to go because it is the most liberating path for Africa's own economic freedom as it marks the essential window to end the era of begging bowl politics. Bonaparte understood the strategic in statistics as a tool of systems thinking and design thinking and therefore one of foresight. It is not about people that have not been counted in the forest. Dr Pali Lehohla is a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, among other hats. Image: Supplied Dr Pali Lehohla is a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, a Research Associate at Oxford University, a board member of Institute for Economic Justice at Wits and a distinguished Alumni of the University of Ghana. He is the former Statistician-General of South Africa. *** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL. BUSINESS REPORT
The South African
7 hours ago
- The South African
South Africans in THIS city pay more for groceries than anywhere else
The cost of groceries in South Africa's major metros continues to soar, with Johannesburg once again emerging as the most expensive city for groceries in July 2025. This marks the third consecutive month that the city has held the unenviable top spot, according to the latest report by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) group. The price of the average household food basket in Johannesburg hit R5 656.43 last month – R213.71 more than the national average of R5,442.72 and a 2.2% increase year-on-year. The basket comprises 44 essential items reflecting typical urban household consumption patterns. Cape Town followed closely behind with a July basket price of R5 371.35, while Durban remains the most affordable metro at R5 358.09, despite also seeing a steady increase. Nationally, the annual cost of the household basket rose by 3.6% – higher than the current consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate of 3.0%. Month-on-month, the basket price saw only a marginal dip of 41 cents, offering little relief to cash-strapped South Africans. Driving the increase is a surge in meat prices, especially beef. According to Stats SA, stewing beef rose by 21.2% year-on-year, the sharpest increase since January 2017. The jump is attributed to a combination of foot-and-mouth outbreaks and rising feed costs. Prices for vegetables such as beetroot, lettuce, and carrots also climbed sharply. While Durban remains the cheapest city to fill a grocery basket, prices there rose by 0.9% month-on-month and 2.8% year-on-year. Cape Town saw the highest annual increase among the three cities at 6.7%, despite a 0.5% monthly decline. The rising cost of groceries is compounding broader cost-of-living pressures and is particularly hard on lower-income households. 'This consistent rise in food costs is not just about numbers – it reflects growing household insecurity,' said a PMBEJD spokesperson. The report has renewed calls for urgent interventions to curb food inflation and address food security, especially in urban areas. Johannesburg: R5 656.43 R5 656.43 Cape Town: R5 371.35 R5 371.35 Durban: R5 358.09 R5 358.09 National Average: R5 442.72 As South Africans grapple with rising prices and economic strain, food affordability remains one of the most pressing challenges facing the country's urban population. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
Words on wealth: why are interest rates still high when inflation is so low?
Explore the complex dynamics between interest rates and inflation in South Africa, as we analyse the South African Reserve Bank's strategies and their impact on the economy. Image: Bloomberg Inflation is something we can't avoid – it's a bit like death and taxes. Traditionally, South Africa has had high inflation in comparison with developed countries, and that's a fundamental reason why the rand has steadily declined against the currencies of those countries. The Covid-19 pandemic upended that trend, and who knows what the effects of US tariffs will be. Whether we return to what now seems was a much safer, more stable world before Covid remains to be seen. As of June, our year-on-year Consumer Price Index inflation rate was 3.0%. Over the years, the SA Reserve Bank (SARB), through controlling interest rates, has done an admirable job of keeping inflation within its target range of 3-6%, for the most part. In comparison with other African countries, our inflation is low. Zimbabwe is an obvious example of a collapsing economy with runaway inflation, but even in countries with stable, growing economies, inflation is a problem. Nigeria has inflation of over 22%, according to Trading Economics; Egypt's rate is about 15%; and Rwanda's is over 8%. Kenya and Namibia are in a similar band to us – their current rates are 3.8% and 3.7% respectively. Looking further abroad, Brazil's rate is 5.4% and Turkey's is a terrifying 35.1%. Recently, the SARB has said it wants to bring the inflation target down so that 3% becomes the middle of the target band. Ironically, to do this, it would need to keep interest rates high, and I would suggest that they are too high as it is. Inflation rate vs interest rate In the following exercise, I compare the CPI inflation rate with the prevailing interest rate (the bank repurchase, or repo rate, as determined by the SA Reserve Bank). A fair comparison of the two rates involves percentages of percentages, which sounds complicated, but bear with me. Before Covid, inflation was averaging 4.5%, smack in the middle of the SARB's target range of 3-6%, and the repo rate was averaging 6.75%. Therefore, the repo rate was 50% higher than the inflation rate. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading When Covid hit, the economy froze and inflation plummeted, reaching a low of 2.1% in May 2020. By then, the SARB had already started slashing the repo rate – it plunged from 6.25% in February 2020 to 3.5% at the end of July, remaining at that record low for over a year. For most of that time, between July 2020 and March 2021, inflation hovered around 3.1%. The difference between the two rates was minor: the repo rate was just 13% higher than the inflation rate. By the end of the pandemic, inflation had soared, reaching a high of 7.8% in July 2022. Over the following two years, it steadily declined to 2.8% in October 2024, and it has averaged about 2.9% since then. When inflation was at 7.8% in July 2022, the repo rate was 5.5% – in other words, the repo rate was about 30% lower than the inflation rate, in a rare reversal. But by then, the SARB was rapidly hiking the repo rate to catch up with the high inflation, so that by July 2023, the repo rate reached a high of 8.25%. It remained there for a year, until July 2024, by which time inflation had dropped to 4.6%. The rates had righted themselves: the repo rate was now 80% higher than the inflation rate. Fast forward to June this year. The repo rate at 7.25% is 142% higher than the inflation rate at 3.0%. That's an enormous difference, considering it was only 50% higher before Covid. Even with a drop to 7%, it will still be 133% higher than the CPI inflation. This means that even in a bank savings account with a relatively modest 6% interest rate, you're getting a substantial after-inflation return of 3%. But while the high repo rate is great for savers, it's terrible for borrowers – think of mortgage bond holders whose interest rates are high, but where inflation is not substantially increasing the value of their properties. Juggling act Things are not as simple as I have perhaps conveyed. The SARB's rate decisions are forward-looking, and with the current uncertainty around tariffs, it has been justifiably cautious – inflation could rear its head again at any moment. On the other hand, keeping rates high unnecessarily is bad for economic growth. It's a delicate juggling act, as beleaguered US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell knows all too well. Commenting on the SARB's low-inflation stance, FNB economists Mamello Matikinca-Ngwenya, Siphamandla Mkhwanazi, Thanda Sithole, and Koketso Mano say they think the shift will happen soon, with the SARB trying to take advantage of the currently benign inflation environment. But they say such a process takes time, and factors such as weather patterns, cyclical food inflation, and the need for traction on structural reforms may derail it. 'We still anticipate inflationary pressures that will make it difficult to sustain the current rate of inflation and believe that the SARB will have to work towards a 3% target as a medium-term objective,' the FNB economists say. Foord chief investment officer Nick Balkin says SARB's thesis is that a lower inflation rate will shrink Treasury's debt‑service bill and release scarce funds for social priorities. But although the SARB has generally delivered on its mandate to keep prices stable within its target range, he says real economic growth has barely averaged one per cent a year since 2014. 'Stabilising prices has not unlocked capital expenditure or boosted economic growth. If anything, it was the weaker growth that helped keep inflation in check,' Balkin says. 'Without meaningful, structural state interventions to address the root causes of constrained economic growth, the debt burden may even worsen.' * Hesse is the former editor of Personal Finance. PERSONAL FINANCE
