Tshwane strike finally over, but Samwu workers voice continued dissatisfaction

The four-month long wage strike by members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) in the City of Tshwane has finally come to an end – but workers are still unhappy.

Since the beginning of the strike, service delivery came to a halt – with rubbish not being collected and water and electricity not switched back on.

An employee who agreed to speak anonymously said the strike might be over but workers were unhappy.

ALSO READ: Services return to normal as Tshwane workers’ strike over

“I’m sure there will be employees that continue to strike. Workers are not happy.”

He said most of the unhappy workers didn’t even strike and continued to work despite feeling they were done in by the city, which did not keep their word. He said the city had other means of saving money, yet they refused to pay workers what was promised to them.

Issue of finances

“[Tshwane mayor Cilliers] Brink claims there’s no money, but imagine if the metro police worked for a month instead of doing nothing or taking bribes and fines, how much money can be made?” he asked.

“Imagine they wrote 10 fines each of about R5 000 per officer per day. If 1 000 of them did that, there would be R5 million coming in daily.

“If Brink needs R602 million for an entire financial year, that money could be obtained in four months, which means the remaining eight months’ money can be used to fill the council’s pockets,” he said.

“Then we are not even talking about money that can be collected through credit control from businesses and home accounts in arrears for services rendered.

ALSO READ: Tshwane stinks as Samwu strike continues

But, yes, in a pool of sustainable and workable solutions, the easy solution was chosen – salary cuts.”

Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the city was delighted to announce that the strike was finally over, and the employees are back at work.

Some backlogs

“The water and sanitation department and the electricity teams are all back at work and executing their duties. We have cleared backlogs in respect of water and electricity outages. We no longer have customers who are without electricity for extended periods.”

ALSO READ: Here’s how much City of Tshwane’s striking workers get paid

Bokaba said there were still some significant backlogs concerning water leaks, traffic lights, street signs, road maintenance, illegal dumping and uncut overgrown grass and weeds.

“These backlogs were occasioned by the strike and it will take some time to clear.”

Bokaba said the buses were operating at 100% capacity despite some challenges experienced with some pelted with stones and others torched.

He said the city had begun the #ReKaofela campaign aimed at clearing the illegal dumping outside the garden refuse and landfill sites.

“Waste recollection is almost 98% back to normal and by next week we will be back at 100% normal collection schedule. We have backlogs in Magalieskruin, Montana and Pretoria North. We will attend to those today,” he said.

The city, Samwu and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union are in discussions over the salary increase dispute facilitated by the CCMA.

ALSO READ: Senior Samwu member’s car linked to firebombing of truck – City of Tshwane