Tshwane working to restore services as Samwu protests continue

The City of Tshwane is working to provide services to residents amid the municipal workers’ strike which has continued despite a court interdict and Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink says the city will apply for a contempt of court order.

The wage increase strike by South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) members resulted in service disruptions, such as delayed waste collection, electricity repairs and water restoration, also affecting the city’s clinics and patients.

The city was granted an interim urgent interdict on Sunday and issued 41 letters of dismissal on Thursday.

However, the strike has continued to hinder services, said Brink.

“Many communities still experience a disruption in services, delays in restoring electricity, water, and there has also been a disruption of waste collection — and, for those who don’t yet know what is going on, there is an unprotected strike in the city.

“It’s not just that some officials refuse to work, it is that many are intimidating their colleagues, violently preventing them from delivering their services. There has even been interference with private contractors of the city,” he said on Friday.

The municipality is in the labour court on Friday to obtain a contempt of court order against the union.

“Letters of warning have been issued to striking employees. The city has obtained an interdict. We are in court today [Friday] to get a contempt of court interdict against some union leaders.”

Community safety MMC Grandi Theunissen said Tshwane emergency services and the metro police department were ensuring services are delivered.

Teams have been escorted by the two departments to deliver services and acted as security during the protests to protect the city’s assets.

“The striking workers have also forced the closure of some of our fire stations, but our brave firefighters have remained on duty and relocated their resources to other stations to ensure their availability and response to emergencies,” Theunissen said.

Earlier this week, staff and patients at several clinics were intimidated and threatened by protesting workers at Lyttelton, Folang, FF Ribeiro, Hercules, Karenpark and Rosslyn clinics.

Health MMC Rina Marx said 20 of the 24 clinics run by Tshwane are operating. The Lyttelton, Hercules, Karenpark and Rosslyn clinics are closed, she said.

“Our clinics continue to offer a comprehensive package of primary healthcare services. Communities are encouraged to continue to make use of these services. I reaffirm that under no circumstances should any person be denied access to healthcare. This is unconstitutional and is strongly condemned,” she said.

The strike comes after Tshwane did not implement the 5.4% salary increase ordered by the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) to honour the 2021 salary and wage collective agreement to take effect from July 1.  

Tshwane intended to submit an exemption order to the council as the city's finances and revenue collection were too low, making the increases unaffordable. 

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