Tshwane ‘cannot be held to ransom by political interests': Mayor seeks further legal action against Samwu

City of Tshwane mayor Randall Williams says the “illegal strike” by the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) seeks to drive narrow political interests and create chaos in the city.

“We will not tolerate it,” he said.

Williams said this week the city has faced challenges from small groups of illegally striking workers affiliated with the union.

The city on Thursday said it experienced outages affecting at least four regions due to the strike. 

It had announced that the city administration has enlisted the services of law enforcement to escort teams to attend to service interruptions in a bid to clear the backlog.

The striking workers this week allegedly blocked non-striking employees from performing their duties, intimidating those who continued doing their work.

“This strike is unlawful. It is being perpetuated by small groups of employees who seek to drive narrow political interests and create chaos in the city on behalf of Samwu,” he said.

“When the strikes began, Samwu leadership distanced themselves from these actions, indicating they were not driving this behaviour. This despite pictures circulating of workers carrying Samwu banners. When striking illegally, Samwu workers forcefully removed their colleagues from their offices, threatened them and destroyed Tshwane property. Samwu leadership were silent.

“It suggests one of two things. Either the Samwu leadership is actively supporting the illegal actions of members, or the leadership team has lost control of the organisation and they exist in name alone. If the latter is true, it is deeply concerning as it suggests the Samwu leadership is no longer effective with most of its members.

“When Samwu communicates with the City of Tshwane, their rhetoric and tone are inherently confrontational. Insults against the senior management and political leadership are commonly found in their letters.”

Williams said this suggests an agenda that is inherently political and not related to labour issues.

“When this illegal strike began, the city mobilised multiple resources and departments to ensure we respond appropriately. This is because it was clear most Tshwane employees want to come to work and do their jobs. Unfortunately, Samwu’s actions taint us all. They cast a cloud over all Tshwane employees.”

Williams said they will seek further legal action against Samwu and its leadership team for contempt of court.

“We are also encouraging any employees who were threatened or physically assaulted to approach the labour relations unit, who will assist to open criminal cases and ensure disciplinary proceedings are enacted upon.

“We have also identified many individuals over the past few days who we will take action against.”

Meanwhile, Tshwane Bus Service (TBS) has withdrawn bus operations in Olievenhoutbosch until further notice due to protests the area.

City spokesperson Selby Bokaba said on Thursday night a Tshwane metro police department vehicle deployed in the area to monitor the protests was pelted with stones and damaged by community members.

Bokaba said after assessing the situation this morning, the city decided to suspend bus operations for the safety of drivers and passengers and safeguard the assets, namely the buses.

“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and issue an update about afternoon operations,” he said.

Mpho Tladinyane, Samwu’s Tshwane regional secretary, denied union members were intimidating other workers.

“If a particular employee alleges there is somebody who is intimidating him or her, they must report to the supervisor and the supervisor will take appropriate action. If there is somebody who feels they have been threatened or intimidated, the person must report this. Why not open a criminal case?” he asked.

He accused officials of trying to sideline matters of concern for workers.

“We will not allow that situation to happen. Every time Samwu raises issues, they create a narrative that it’s a political matter. If they regard everything we raise as political issues, it is fine, but we know the issues we are raising are to do with the conditions under which employees are working. They must address the real issues and leave the side issues.”

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