Tshwane coalition at standoff over ongoing labour unrest

The Tshwane coalition is at loggerheads, with its two biggest parties disagreeing on how to respond to the worker impasse that has plunged the capital city into unrest and debilitated service delivery.

In the last council meeting, it became clear that the DA and ActionSA have different ideas on how to deal with the matter, with the DA remaining adamant it will not succumb to strike action used as ransom to force it to pay salary increases it cannot afford — while ActionSA says there is a bargaining council outcome that cannot be ignored.

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said while the city being able to afford a wage agreement is critical, so is the price paid by residents and communities across Tshwane as the strike continues.

“It is the absence of this cost of the ongoing strike, especially when further disruption is made likely by the refusal to negotiate, that concerns ActionSA. 

“From the outset it must be understood that the entire strike action arose from a three-year salary agreement signed by DA mayor Randall Williams committing the City of Tshwane to sub-inflation salary increases of 3.5% in 2021, 4.9% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023. 

“This agreement was ratified by the bargaining council and, as such, became legally enforceable in terms of the labour relations act. The city of Tshwane has only implemented the second year increase and refused to implement the increase of 2021 and 2023,” said Beaumont.

On both these occasions, exemption was sought from the bargaining council and denied and in both instances appeals have been lodged with the labour court, where the 2021 referral has still not been heard.

“Under these circumstances, a strike was not just likely but it was the entirely foreseeable outcome of ignoring a collective bargaining outcome. The city has cited financial difficulties in terms of an inability to meet these previously agreed salary increases, which is indisputably a challenge.

“However, such a challenge can only be dealt with in terms of sitting down with the unions and renegotiating a new deal which is both affordable and ensures a stable labour environment,” said Beaumont.

Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink has vowed to not back down, however, refusing to renegotiate a deal with labour, saying the party will not be intimidated into making decisions it does not deem fit.

This follows the decision taken by ActionSA to submit an urgent motion to the speaker of council to compel the mayor to sit around the table, calling it a display of “playing opposition politics while in government to score political points”.

DA Tshwane caucus spokesperson Kwena Moloto said the move lacked substance as the administration has made numerous efforts to engage unions involved in the strikes, which ActionSA, with two MMC posts, is aware of.

“Between July 27 and August 8, the City of Tshwane held five meetings with union leadership and engaged with the CCMA on August 3. Furthermore, as the unions have distanced themselves from the strikes in Tshwane, ActionSA’s motion essentially calls on the mayor to engage with the criminal elements who have held this city hostage through violence and destruction,” said Moloto.

The spokesperson blasted ActionSA for “pulling the rug under the coalition's feet”, saying the multiparty coalition has been locked in a battle for the financial future of the metro.

“Granting wage increases in Tshwane would inevitably come at the expense of resources designated for essential services to residents, creating the illusion of ending the strike in the name of resuming service delivery in Tshwane. It will lead to a long-term decline in the quality of services provided to Tshwane residents.”

Despite the agreement on the state of the city's crippling coffers, Beaumont's party said the DA's attitude was short-sighted and the referral of the matter to the labour court for years does not remove the contingent liability accruing.

The three months of service delivery disruption that the city has already suffered, along with the dependence on the courts to solve the problem, will only result in further instability, Beaumont added.

“Should a court find against the city, as the bargaining council already has, those salary increases will become immediately due, with backpay over years, effectively crippling the City of Tshwane financially. The courts might take years to resolve the matter.”

Lack of refuse removal has turned many communities into dumps, bus services have ceased, customer care and building control centres have been intermittently closed and response rates to electricity and water outages and blocked sewer lines have been unreliable across communities in the capital city due to the municipal worker impasse.

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