A new wage offer is on the table for striking bus drivers and the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) says it hopes the new proposal will break the stalemate and the countrywide strike.

According to Sanco spokesperson Jabu Mahlangu the organisation urged parties to finalise consultations speedily to end the protracted national bus strike.

The bargaining council and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) have proposed an offer of 8.75% for the first year and 8.25% for the second.

Mahlangu says commuters could not afford any further postponement of the resolution of the strike. “It will take months before some of them recover from the effect of the strike which has eroded their meager resources and left them high and dry.”

Workers have been on strike for nearly a month now demanding a 9% wage hike.

Although other public transport providers have benefited substantially from the strike, commuters suffered the most inconvenience, including arriving late at work and late returning home, safety risks, and job losses as well as affordability.

“Some [commuters] had to resort to loan sharks in order to carry the heavy burden of the expanded budgets that was unexpectedly thrust upon them by the protracted strike,” Mahlangu notes.

– African News Agency (ANA)