Durbanites asked to keep their litter off the streets amid ongoing protest

Durban residents have been asked to keep their litter off the streets as municipal workers continue to protest.

In a statement issued on Friday, eThekwini municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said: "Residents are requested to keep all refuse within their properties, or to take it to a landfill site. The municipality will notify residents when waste collection resumes."

This comes after hundreds of strikers from the city's cleaning and solid waste departments took to the streets in protest over salary increases allegedly granted to 55 uMkhonto weSizwe veterans employed in the department.

The protest action brought the city to a standstill this week, with municipal workers dumping litter on the streets of the CBD. Thirty strikers were arrested.

Meanwhile, the 11 municipal workers who were charged with public violence made a brief appearance at the Durban Magistrate's Court on Friday, where magistrate Vanitha Armu labelled their alleged behaviour "disgraceful". 

The 11 were released on R1,000 bail each and will be back in court on June 14.