The City of Tshwane refuses to budge on its stance of no salary increases despite the ongoing service delivery disruption by the South African Municipal Workers’ Union.
Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said more than 120 employees have been dismissed so far, after they were given an ultimatum and warned to come back to work. He said about 400 people have had their pay docked for skipping work.
“You can mediate many things and conversations about many things but the one issue you cannot mediate is that we don’t have R600m to grant in salary increases. The money just isn’t there,” said Brink.
The labour court on Friday granted the city a permanent interdict against its striking employees.
The provision of services in the municipality has been severely affected since July, after some employees went on strike to force the city to honour the last year of the three-year wage agreement for 2023/2024.
“That is a significant issue and if there is contempt of court in that case, then Samwu leaders may be jailed. I want to emphasise that this strike is taking attention away from the critical issues in this municipality,” he said.
“What keeps me up at night is our financial position. It’s not the strike. It is that we are running out of money at an alarming rate. Last year this municipality, as did many others, made a loss in excess of R2bn in the sale of electricity, those are the critical issues. Unless we attend to those issues, get back to work and solve those problems, then the communities are going to suffer,” Brink said.
Brink said the disruption and attacks around the city are no longer a labour issue.
“I want to emphasise that at the height of the strike about 20 to 30% of the workforce participated in the strike. Far more disruptive have been the attacks on waste removal trucks, which means contractors immediately withdraw from an area, the attack on water and electricity teams, the attempted murder, and arson at landfill sites. So the violence and the criminality have been far more disruptive than any formal labour dispute.”
He said there are catch-up plans for waste collection and public cleaning.
TimesLIVE
‘We don’t have R600m for salary increases’: Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink
Image: Lee Warren
The City of Tshwane refuses to budge on its stance of no salary increases despite the ongoing service delivery disruption by the South African Municipal Workers’ Union.
Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said more than 120 employees have been dismissed so far, after they were given an ultimatum and warned to come back to work. He said about 400 people have had their pay docked for skipping work.
“You can mediate many things and conversations about many things but the one issue you cannot mediate is that we don’t have R600m to grant in salary increases. The money just isn’t there,” said Brink.
The labour court on Friday granted the city a permanent interdict against its striking employees.
The provision of services in the municipality has been severely affected since July, after some employees went on strike to force the city to honour the last year of the three-year wage agreement for 2023/2024.
“That is a significant issue and if there is contempt of court in that case, then Samwu leaders may be jailed. I want to emphasise that this strike is taking attention away from the critical issues in this municipality,” he said.
“What keeps me up at night is our financial position. It’s not the strike. It is that we are running out of money at an alarming rate. Last year this municipality, as did many others, made a loss in excess of R2bn in the sale of electricity, those are the critical issues. Unless we attend to those issues, get back to work and solve those problems, then the communities are going to suffer,” Brink said.
Brink said the disruption and attacks around the city are no longer a labour issue.
“I want to emphasise that at the height of the strike about 20 to 30% of the workforce participated in the strike. Far more disruptive have been the attacks on waste removal trucks, which means contractors immediately withdraw from an area, the attack on water and electricity teams, the attempted murder, and arson at landfill sites. So the violence and the criminality have been far more disruptive than any formal labour dispute.”
He said there are catch-up plans for waste collection and public cleaning.
TimesLIVE
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City of Tshwane obtains permanent interdict against striking employees
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