Autopax, a bus operator which is a subsidiary of Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), has once again failed to pay its employees their full salaries as financial woes continue to batter the company.
At the end of February, workers only received 25% of their wages, according to Zanele Sabela, spokesperson for the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu). Employees are normally paid on the 27th of every month.
This comes after the struggling company which operates Translux and City-to-City coach buses only managed to pay their employees half of their January salaries on time. The balance of their salaries were paid later.
It was not clear when the employees would get the remainder of their February pay. The company has experienced financial challenges linked to its parental company's financial and management woes. Prasa was placed under administration by the ministry of transport earlier this year.
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Prasa spokesperson, Makhosini Mgitywa, confirmed the partial payment of salaries, which he blamed on the ongoing "financial crunch" faced by the entity.
He said Prasa was willing to extent assistance to the bus company, but "there are processes which must be followed." He stated that the company has been going through serious problems which impacted its financial flow.
According to Mgitywa, Prasa's executive committee will on Tuesday hold a meeting which will be attended by Autopax acting chief executive to discuss the matter.
Other state-owned entities, including Denel, have also struggled to pay staff salaries.
Last month, a report commissioned by the Competition Commission recommended that Prasa and Autopax be managed as separate entities. It found that Autopax's links with Prasa gave the company an unfair advantage over its competitors and helped entrench its market dominance
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