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A task team established to find alternatives to retrenchments at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is making steady progress, cutting the number of affected employees by half.The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and the United National Transport Union (Untu), the two largest unions at Prasa, were left incensed after the rail operator announced plans to retrench more than 600 workers, citing “severe financial and operational constraints” in its long-distance passenger rail operations. The task team, which includes Prasa and labour representatives, is expected to deliver a progress report to transport minister Barbara Creecy soon. Satawu general secretary Jack Mazibuko said labour welcomes Creecy’s intervention “in making sure we save the jobs, considering the fact that South Africa’s [situation] is compounded by a high level of unemployment”. “Through the minister’s intervention, she forced parties to come to the table, and that’s where the task team was established consisting of Satawu. The task team is yielding positive results to a point where we have reduced the number from about 600 … to about 227 employees who might be affected by retrenchments,” Mazibuko said. “We did not support the retrenchments. The parties are still engaging. We have given the task team a mandate to come up with solutions and we are confident we will find amicable solutions [for] the 227.” Business Day has reported that in a document sent to employees Prasa said certain rail corridors had remained inactive for extended periods, leaving employees unable to perform productive work while continuing to receive full remuneration. “After exhausting all reasonable alternatives, retrenchment was adopted as a last resort,” Prasa stated. Business Day understands Shosholoza Meyl has not been operating at full capacity as a result. Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda said there is no update.Finance minister Enoch Godongwana said in his budget speech in February that the R5.8bn allocated to Prasa was part of the government’s efforts to modernise the rail operator’s fleet and improve commuter rail services. The programme is intended to boost annual passenger trips from the current 77-million to between 250-million and 450-million over the medium term. He added the special appropriation included R1.8bn earmarked for Prasa to help the agency meet its contractual obligations under its agreement with Gibela, which requires the procurement of a minimum of 35 locomotives annually. Untu provisionally withdrew its application to halt the retrenchment process from the labour court roll to give the task team a chance. Labour met Prasa group CEO Hishaam Emeran recently to find a solution to the looming job cuts. Makanda did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read: PHILIP MASEKO | Why Acsa thrives while Prasa implodes Business Day reported recently that labour had rejected moves by Prasa to have the affected employees sign documents issued regarding the retrenchment process. Prasa, which has a track network of more than 2,000km, has historically been plagued by ageing infrastructure, vandalism, unreliability and ineffectiveness, 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 end-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. Business Day
