News making the rounds today is that two MyCiti buses were ‘attacked’ over the past day. Hout Bay police reported that a bus was stoned in the early hours of this morning, while another was nearly set ablaze in Woodstock by an unidentified person.
Whether this has got something to do with the current MyCiti bus driver strike that is happening or not, these acts are appalling to the City of Cape Town and the people who reside in it. As with most strikes in this country, the drivers have ‘downed tools’ to protest against low pay and long working hours. I find this quite paradoxical – almost nobody has a ‘cushy’ job. Literally everybody wants more pay and shorter working hours. We live in a country where there is so much unemployment that if you’re not happy with your current job, you can be sure as hell that there is another person waiting to take it from you… for less pay too.
When you’re working in a field where thousands of people (not to mention the economy) are dependant on you getting them to work in the morning, the last thing you should be doing is causing a complete stuff-up with everybody’s schedule because you are putting your personal interests first. If your employer is flouting the labour law then sure, you have a leg to stand on. But if you agreed and signed the T&Cs in your contract, what are you doing? You signed that contract.
#MyCiti Transpinisula bus drivers enter their third day of the strike. MK pic.twitter.com/rc8mfKDKg3
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) February 6, 2015
I feel like we need to move away from this debilitating ‘strike mentality’ in South Africa. Embrace the now and leave the mob-mentality behind. Start a social media campaign to raise awareness about your plight. Perhaps start a Kickstarter campaign.
It’s perfectly normal to feel like you’re not getting paid enough for what you do. Striking is one thing, but burning the same buses you drive every day to get a message across? Perhaps driving a vehicle filled with innocent people is not for you. It has not been confirmed yet whether the attacks on the buses and the strikes are related, but come on, who else is currently filled with enough rage to commit such acts? That’s it – the disgruntled bus drivers. I’m not pointing fingers, but this just seems likely.
All of this, on top of load shedding. Do we really need more drama?
Photography @hlatse_mm
JustinUtopia This “Cut off my nose to spite my face” mentality will doom South Africa..
MistaPhipps Fully agree dude!
Why the bus drivers striking when they must be happy they have jobs
clearly they don’t appreciate the fact that they have a job they just want everything for nothing and not having to put any effort or work to get it
the mentality in this country sucks nothing makes the people happy , nothing ,and never will , its the african way , ungrateful , destructive and stupid , fire the lot of them and get in people who really want jobs, if they strike, fire them too and get a new batch of drivers , useless bunch, why a few people hold this country to ransom and we accept it beggars belief
Where is the President of this country