Labour unions have warned Prasa against retrenchments. Picture: (Freddy Mavunda)
Labour raises possible ‘jobs bloodbath’ across the rail operator’s operations
The United National Transport Union (Untu), the majority union at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), has criticised the rail operator for allegedly steaming ahead with plans to retrench 603 employees without consulting labour.
“We reject this move by Prasa, therefore, we appeal to all our members not to sign any acknowledgement letter or correspondence issued in relation to this retrenchment process. The manner and behaviour of Prasa undermines the legal objective of a joint consensus-seeking consultation process,” said Untu spokesperson Atenkosi Plaatjie.
A facilitation process by the commission for conciliation, mediation and arbitration (CCMA) was flawed, she said, as Prasa management “consistently refused to provide labour with critical information requested in an effort to avert this jobs bloodbath”.
“This information would make way for a people optimisation process within the rail business where there are currently open vacancies. Such organograms should have formed the basis of the consultation process, as they would have assisted in preventing this bloodbath.
“Labour repeatedly requested these structures, but they were never provided. This failure has significantly contributed to the process being fundamentally flawed,” she said.
The parastatal incurred irregular expenditure of R3.8bn in 2022/23, earning a qualified audit opinion from the auditor-general for the period. From 2018/19 to 2021/22, the auditor-general issued a disclaimer on its financial statements, which signifies that the accounts cannot be relied on and often suggests the company is in a parlous financial state.
Prasa received government subsidies amounting to R7.2bn for operations and R12.3bn for capital expenditure in 2022/23. The entity generated revenue of R119m from fares, operating lease rental income of R620m, other income of R181m and interest received of R1.7bn.
Prasa and organised labour represented by Untu and the rival SA Transport Workers Union (Satawu) signed a one-year deal for a 5.5% wage increase in 2025.
Prasa, which has a network of more than 2,000km of track, has historically been plagued by ageing infrastructure, vandalism, lack of reliability and effectiveness, fraud, corruption and safety concerns.
The entity launched its general overhaul programme in 2022 at a cost of R7.5bn (of which R3.48bn had been spent by the end of March 2025).
The overhaul was established to refurbish and extend the service life of Prasa’s legacy rolling stock fleet — the older Metrorail coaches and mainline passenger services locomotives that serve millions of commuters in South Africa’s metropolitan regions.
Prasa said it has grown its ridership from 39.4-million in the 2023/24 financial year to 77-million by last year.
Plaatjie said Untu noted with concern that despite shortages of security personnel, “Prasa has now included protection services employees in its retrenchment plans”.
“This decision is both shocking and contradictory, particularly as Prasa’s own corporate plan identifies the ongoing need for additional protection services officers to safeguard passengers, rail infrastructure, and operations against vandalism and cable theft,” she said.
“It makes absolutely no sense to retrench protection services employees unless Prasa wishes to repeat the catastrophic mistakes made during the Covid-19 period, when security contracts were cancelled, leading to widespread vandalism, rampant cable theft, and the destruction of critical rail infrastructure and trains.”
Plaatjie said Untu’s legal department is exploring the next course of legal action in the section 189 process. Organised labour has called for a meeting with Prasa group CEO Hishaam Emeran on May 22 to “discuss this disgraceful retrenchment process by the entity. This approach by Prasa has caused immense anxiety and uncertainty among affected employees and their families, and it must be condemned.”
Satawu spokesperson Amanda Tshemese said the Cosatu affiliate would comment in due course. Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda has been approached for comment, which will be added once received.
Source: https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-05-12-untu-warns-prasa-on-retrenchments/