The Road Freight Association (RFA) has appealed for a swift and peaceful resolution to the grievances raised by hundreds of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) officers.
This comes after an illegal strike by the EMPD officers on Wednesday, which resulted in major routes in Ekurhuleni being blocked, sparking serious concerns about the impact of the unrest on citizens and local businesses.
The officers involved in the protest have issued an ultimatum that their overtime and salary adjustment demands be resolved by March 27, according to reports.
RFA chief executive officer Gavin Kelly raised concerns over the disruption and potential harm caused to citizens and businesses due to the current unrest among Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) officers.
Kelly said the recent actions of the protesting officers impacted the daily lives and operations within the Ekurhuleni region and underscored the RFA's stance on the need for a swift and peaceful resolution.
“The Road Freight Association reminds the EMPD of their mandate and duty to ensure that citizens and businesses within their area of influence can ply their lives and businesses safely, without hindrance and with protection from unlawful actions,” he said.
He stated that it is unacceptable to take matters that are under discussion to the streets, where members of the public are subjected to emotional stress, possible employment ramifications, and operational impacts on businesses.
“Road freight runs to tight schedules, with many perishable cargos having very strict delivery requirements. Again, many other cargoes have manufacturing deadlines, shipping deadlines, and retail constraints. On top of this are the effects on employees in taxis, buses, and their own transport, who could not fulfil their tasks,” he said.
Kelly further questioned how many emergency vehicles, including police, ambulances, fire and rescue, and hospital blood/organ services, have been prevented from performing their functions.
“The association understands factors relating to employer/employee relations and requests both parties to resolve these matters as speedily as possible without negatively affecting the lives of innocent citizens who are far removed from this matter,” he stated.
Willem Els, senior training coordinator at the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), suggested that an investigation be conducted to ascertain whether the disgruntled officers had exhausted all available channels to address their grievances before resorting to strike action.
He said while everyone has the right to protest, this type of action is not found within police officer procedures.
“You have to follow due procedure in order to make it a legal strike action or a legal protest action. So if these officers did not follow that, of course, there should be consequences for them,” he said.
He noted that public trust in police is already extremely low, and these actions by the EMPD do not bode well for the public who feel that the police are there to protect them.
According to Els, it is very difficult for these officers if the management does not adhere to the procedures themselves.
“Some of their grievances are really valid when it comes to salaries and overtime, etc. If they followed due process, and the management did not adhere to that, then it should be escalated from here and not necessarily by strike action, but on a political level. It must go up now because that is where these decisions are being made,” said Els.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) condemned the continued exploitation and disregard for the welfare of the EMPD and other traffic officers, who are vital to ensuring road safety and enforcing municipal by-laws.
“The current fragmented system, where traffic officers operate under municipal and provincial structures, has led to inconsistencies in wages, benefits, and working conditions across the country,” said Popcru president Thulani Ngwenya.
The union called for the nationalisation of traffic policing.