By Louise Flanagan, Lee Rondganger and Alex Eliseev
After a violent standoff between Joburg metro cops and SA police, greater Johannesburg - which includes Randburg and Sandton - faces a day without policing.
Its metro cops are on strike today, Thursday, claiming rampant nepotism and favouritism in their department.
In dramatic action on Wednesday, more than 400 protesting metro cops blocked the M2 highway that rings the city, bringing thousands of peak-hour motorists to a standstill.
'Nobody will die on the road if the traffic officers are not there' Shooting erupted when SA police in riot gear arrived with metro police (JMPD) using live ammunition and police firing rubber bullets.
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Seven metro cops were injured.
On Wednesday night SA Municipal Workers' Union organiser Vincent Vena, speaking from metro headquarters in Loveday Street, said there would be no metro police on duty on Thursday.
None had been on duty last night, either.
Vena said 99 percent of the more than 500 JMPD staff - uniformed as well as non-uniformed office staff - from across the city had converged on the base on Wednesday to demand to talk to City of Johannesburg management about their grievances.
'The public were very, very angry' On Thursday he expected "101 percent will be out" as staff planned to return to base from 7am to await feedback.
They want the city's human resources director to address them.
"Obviously it (the stayaway) will hit the public hard, which is not our aim," Vena said. "Nobody will die on the roads if the traffic officers are not there."
Asked what effect this would have on crime fighting, he said: "Whether we are on the streets or not, it won't deter criminals from their wrongdoings."
Police are defined as essential services and are restricted in their right to strike.
"We don't want to call it a strike but, yes, you can interpret it that way because no one will be at work."
Vena said JMPD staff believed there was a high level of nepotism in the department, as well as a disparity in salaries.
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