/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The United National Transport Union (UNTU) is very disturbed by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) promise to support the six Sekoma children who lost both their parents in last week's train collision in Mountain View, near Pretoria.
 
Although UNTU is grateful that Prasa made this promise in the media, the Union must warn the Sekoma-family that this state-owned enterprise does not keep its promises.
 
Steve Harris, General Secretary of UNTU, says PRASA promised Tania Botha, the widow of murdered #UNTU train driver Piet Botha, that the employer will pay for the psychologist she and her two children had to see to help them cope after their sole provider was shot dead on the platform of the Netreg Station in July 2016.
 
The then Board of Prasa promised Botha at her husband’s memorial in front of all his colleagues and the media that they would support the family.
 
“They promised that they would take us back to Netreg Station within three months to see the improvements in security to ensure that what happened to my beloved, will never happen to another innocent person. It is two and a half years later, and we have not heard a word from Prasa since then,” says Botha.
 
Harris says he took it upon himself to repeatedly enquire from Prasa when Botha’s counselling will be paid. The passenger rail operator has yet to respond.
 
In January last year Harris also had to intervene after the extremely traumatised train driver and train assistant of the Shosholoza Meyl train collision in Kroonstad informed the Union that neither of them were sent for trauma counselling three weeks after the train slammed into a truck leaving 21 commuters dead and more than 200 injured.
 
“After they eventually went for their first debriefing session, they had to hear that Prasa was only paying for one session. Prasa agreed to pay for more sessions after UNTU informed its management that their conduct was inhumane,” says Harris.
 
Harris says UNTU is also very saddened by the fact that the top Management of Prasa and Dr. Blade Nzimande, Minister of Transport, made the time to visit the families of the victims and some of the injured, but did not bother to visit the any of the four UNTU members that were involved in the crash.
 
“Prasa has clearly forgotten that its loyal employees are its most valuable asset. Without them risking their lives to report for work daily to serve the poorest of the poor who is dependant on trains, the cheapest form of transport, this state-owned enterprise cannot run any service,” says Harris.
 

Issued by The United National Transport Union