Cape Town - The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) says the issue of transport for workers in rural areas needs to be urgently addressed.
This after 21 workers travelling in a bakkie that crashed outside Klapmuts on Tuesday evening had to be transported to various hospitals.
It is unknown where the bakkie came from and whether the workers were farm or construction workers.
Western Cape Health Department spokesperson Byron La Hoe said the accident happened on the N1.
He said three patients were in a serious condition.
“Patients were transported to Tygerberg, Paarl, Eersterivier and Karl Bremer Hospitals,” he said.
Mobility Department spokesperson, Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka, said a preliminary report suggests the cause of the crash was a tyre burst, but a full investigation is under way. Cosatu provincial secretary, Malvern de Bruyn, said 21 passengers in a bakkie was a recipe for disaster.
“We will reach out to the Labour Department and find out what happened and what measures will be put in place and deal with the matter.
“We can’t wait for more deaths before they decide to deal and act against employers who think our workers can travel on a bakkie or a truck.
“And Cosatu is concerned because this could have been fatal.
“If need be, we are going to campaign against employers who are still making use of bakkies and trucks to drive employees to work and home.
“It’s shameful what they are doing to these workers who are desperate for work. They are treated like animals.”
De Bruyn said he hoped the Government of National Unity (GNU) talks could be concluded soon so they can see who the new Minister of Labour is.
“It’s quite clear that the government is doing nothing about this matter. We met MPLs more than a year ago, they said they were going to deal with it.
“They have done nothing in this province to deal with the transportation of workers. We need to call an indaba to come up with workable solutions to address this issue,” said De Bruyn.
A video shared on Facebook showed paramedics attending to the patients.
Some were lying on the grass while others were sitting up. The bakkie was on its roof and wedged in-between wire fencing and the canopy was crushed and found a distance from where the vehicle was.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za
Cape Argus