Passenger Rail Agency and union reach pay deal

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and its key union have reached a wage agreement that will result in a 5.5% increase in workers’ pay across the board. 

PRASA is South Africa’s government-owned rail agency, reporting to the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy.

The company provides metro rail services and long-distance rail and bus routes across South Africa’s borders.

As with most state-owned enterprises, unions play a significant role in representing workers and negotiating annual salary increases.

The United National Transport Union (UNTU) and PRASA signed the pact on pay for the year through March 2026.

The union announced the deal in a statement on Friday, July 25, 2025, stating that it followed a difficult and drawn-out negotiation period.

In addition to the increase, there will be no forced retrenchments of employees in the bargaining unit in the corporate office.

There will also be no job cuts in the rail and technical units, the long-distance passenger division, and the intersite unit during the period.

Prasa collapsed in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic after looters vandalized most of its 580 stations and stole power lines feeding the trains, rendering about 95% of its network unusable.

It’s slowly restoring services, with annual user trips rising to 39 million nationwide in the financial year that ended on March 31, 2024.

While that’s an improvement from a low of 10 million user trips in fiscal 2021, it’s a far cry from a peak of 646 million in 2009.

Its disintegration has shifted more commuters than ever to mini-bus taxis, already the most common mode of transport after walking.