WATCH | How SA's administrative capital was trashed during city strike

01 August 2019 - 12:06
By IAVAN PIJOOS
The city was rocked with protests this week after municipal workers went on strike, demanding 18% salary increases.
Image: @Shange033 on Twitter The city was rocked with protests this week after municipal workers went on strike, demanding 18% salary increases.

Mountains of fetid rubbish dumped in the streets, barricaded roads, unrest and livid commuters zigzagging their way through the chaos.

South Africa's administrative capital, Pretoria, at times resembled a war zone in the past three days during a strike by municipal workers demanding 18% salary hikes.

Up to 40 buses, "taken without permission" from a depot, were used to shut down busy roads in the CBD, slowing traffic to a snail's pace.

While the city was drowning in rubbish, its manager, Moeketsi Mosola, was placed on special leave.

Tshwane metro police spokesperson senior superintendent Isaac Mahamba said on Thursday that traffic was finally "flowing freely" on the fourth day of the strike and that there had not been early reports of protests.

This was in stark contrast to Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, when truckloads of rubbish were dumped in the streets and fire hydrants turned on. Many shops and businesses were forced to close.

Here are some of the sights that greeted residents and workers earlier in the week: