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20090114

Racism claim brings Gautrain to screeching halt

 

GautrainOffTrackOverRacismIssue January 14 2009 -- All work on the prestigious rapid-rail link north of Johannesburg for the football World Cup 2010 tournament was brought to a screeching halt Tuesday when 2,000 workers went on a wildcat strike.  http://www.gautrain.co.za/index.php?fid=1&fp=0

Sowetan newspaper journalist Luzuko Pongoma reports that workers on the site at Midrand, north of Johannesburg, were striking because colleague Thabo Bolofi, 33, allegedly was not believed by Afrikaner supervisor Stephan Van Tonder when he said he’d had a seizure on Friday.

 The shift boss, whose comment was not obtained by the Sowetan newspaper, was accused of using vile racist language, accusing Bofolo of being a drug dealer, and then allegedly assaulting him.

There has been tremendous pressure on all the staff to complete the Gautrain project in time. However South Africa also is rife with rumours about labour disputes, large cost overruns and unexplained delays.

The project, which also includes the construction of a railway line and an overhead bridge, has been beset with engineering problems, too: at one point Oxford Road in Randburg collapsed because of faulty tunneling.

AntiRAcismDemoSouthAfricaJan2009Sowetan reports that when they visited the site on Tuesday, workers were milling around, 'vowing not to return to work until a white supervisor had been fired'.

“I told my supervisor that I was sick before I collapsed,” Bolofo told Sowetan. “When other employees tried to help me, the white man assaulted me.“He then took me to the office [a shipping container used as an office] and banged my head against the wall until I blacked out.” The worker was taken to hospital for treatment of the seizure.

In response, about 2,000 workers downed tools on Monday and have vowed to continue the strike until racism on the construction site was dealt with by Gautrain management. Yesterday a manager gave the workers an ultimatum to return to work before the end of the day or face disciplinary action.

The supervisors at the project referred Sowetan to Bombela spokesman Modelize Theron, who said she was not aware of the strike or the alleged racist incident.

“I know of a guy who had a seizure at the plant but I do not know of any strike,” she said before abruptly ending the call. http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=917814

 

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