Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille says she will sue the South African Municipal Workers' Union for damage to property after striking workers went on a rampage through the city.
As the nationwide Samwu strike entered its second day yesterday, close to 2000 workers looted and vandalised the city as they marched along Darling and Adderley streets on their way to the Cape Town Civic Centre to hand over a memorandum the SA Local Government Association.
Striking workers scattered litter and set municipal rubbish bins alight.
They also intimidated members who did not protest yesterday.
The municipality said it was investigating claims that two of its employees had been abducted for refusing to strike.
Traffic in the city was disrupted as a heavy police contingent monitored the strikers and arrested a few people along the way.
Shops closed their doors while street traders scrambled to pack their goods as strikers grabbed wares such as sunglasses and belts.
De Lille said that after assessing damage to property, the city would claim the costs from Samwu.
"I call on the leader of the opposition, councillor Tony Ehrenreich, to join me in condemning illegal behaviour and to support the city in claiming damages from Samwu.
"We will soon undertake the process of reviewing the city's CCTV footage."
DA MP Ian Ollis said he would ask parliament's private member's legislative proposal committee to fast-track the DA's private member's Bill, which sought to hold unions liable for damage caused by their members during protests.
Thousands of Samwu members are expected to march to Durban's eThekwini Municipality and Pietermaritzburg's uMsunduzi council offices today.
Both municipalities are reportedly operating with a skeleton staff.
In Durban, a number of temporary workers were spotted using private vehicles to collect rubbish.
Samwu's KwaZulu-Natal secretary Jaycee Ncanana said he was annoyed by employers intimidating the union's members.
He said members had not gone on strike due to threats they would lose their jobs because the strike was illegal.
"We followed the legal procedures before going on strike," he said.
eThekwini municipal spokesman Thabo Mofokeng said the strike had not affected service delivery hugely, saying only 8% of the workforce had been absent from work.
The strike had no visible effect on Gauteng municipalities, with both Tswhane and Johannesburg's metro councils saying they were operating at full capacity.
A mass march is planned in the Johannesburg CBD on Friday.
Mthandeki Nhlapo, Samwu's national general secretary, said the union would answer questions at a press conference in Johannesburg today related to allegations of intimidation, damage to property, trashing and strike boycotts.
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