Pretoria - City of Tshwane has informed residents about the disruption of certain services as a result of the “prolonged, unlawful and unprotected” protest action by employees affiliated to labour union, the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU).
Spokesperson for the City of Tshwane Selby Bokaba said the protests have continued to rock South Africa’s capital city despite Tshwane having been granted an interdict by the Labour Court in Johannesburg last week declaring the strike action unlawful and unprotected.
“The following services are disrupted - Tshwane Bus Service; A Re Yeng Bus Service; bulk waste collection to businesses in the CBD; Rosslyn depot has been blocked and the Lyttleton office in Centurion has been forcefully closed,” said Bokaba.
“Some employees have been subjected to intimidation while others have been violently removed at the Wonderboom Electricity depot. The Akasia Driving Licence Testing Centre (DLTC) closed doors after staff members were intimidated and forced to join the strike by their protesting colleagues.”
While other services have not been severely impacted by the strike, the City of Tshwane said there is however the likelihood of the turnaround time to service interruptions regarding electricity, water and sanitation being affected.
“The city is busy quantifying the damages and costs incurred as a result of the illegal strike and will issue the bill against SAMWU for the wasteful costs incurred as a result of this unlawful strike,” said Bokaba.
“Tshwane apologises profusely for the inconvenience caused and pleads for the resident’s patience during this period of disruptions to essential services.”
Several streets in Pretoria CBD have been heavily littered with massive traffic congestion as motorists and pedestrians maneuver around the piles of litter strewn on the streets. The protest has continued despite an assurance this week by Samwu deputy secretary Dumisani Magagula that workers were not on strike.
In a TV interview, Magagula said: “There is no strike in Tshwane and we do not accept the fact that it is Samwu members that are intimidating anyone from going to work or anyone from delivering services.”
He said “failure by the municipality to implement the salary increment” stirred unhappiness among the City of Tshwane workers.
The increment was part of the agreement signed last month between the parties at the bargaining council.
“Unfortunately, workers did go to try to get the municipality to address them on its failure and how the municipality is going to address them even before we go for legal action against the municipality,” Magagula said.
In a media statement, Tshwane said it would “take a hard-line stance” against anyone found violating the court order.
“The city is pinning its hopes on law enforcement to maintain law and order and to enforce compliance with the interim court order,” it said.
Samwu regional secretary Mpho Tladinyane said workers wanted the City to meet their demands before the local government elections.
He denied that Samwu was fighting the political battles of the ANC as claimed by mayor and DA mayoral candidate Randall Williams.
ANC spokesperson in Tshwane, Bafuze Yabo told Pretoria News that Samwu does not fight ANC battles.
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