Tshwane stinks as Samwu strike continues

The impact of the strike by City of Tshwane (COT) workers affiliated to the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) is far from over. COT and Samwu are still wrestling over salary increases behind closed doors with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, while the community continues to live in a dirty city.

Local estate agent Quentin Meyer started the #onssalself movement in Pretoria North last year to clean up the area. He said the illegal dumping had started again at the Daan de Wet refuse site in Pretoria North. Meyer approached one of the people illegally dumping in the area who simply told him that the municipality was failing them.

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“Where must we dump,” he asked Meyer. Meyer said the refuse site has been a mess for four months. “I’m tired of the city. Daan de Wet has been a mess for months, Now people are starting to litter again. Do I blame them? Streets are a mess, water leaks, power constantly off, parks dirty. What are we paying for,” he asked.

A resident, Hannie van Zyl, said the smell at the dumping site was overwhelming. “If anyone says the city is doing something, I don’t see it. There is no attempt by the city to clean here,” she said. Bernie Cloete said the garden refuse site was overflowing. “It attracts flies. The rubbish is everywhere,” he said. Cloete said it has to stop. “The strike is over. Why is it not being removed? They said the strike was over, so what is the excuse?” he asked. Cloete added that there seemed to be no urgency to fix the illegal dumping or the overflow of refuse sites.

A health hazard

“This is a health hazard for the area,” he said. A municipal worker, who agreed to speak anonymously, said the city was lying about the strike. The worker added that the mayor had security 24/7 while bus drivers had to risk their lives to go to work. “The mayor and the city manager do not care about any of its workers. Our safety means nothing.”

Tshwane city manager Johann Mettler said: “We have a city that doesn’t look good. It’s my job to make sure the new team get on the bus rapidly so we can do what is most obvious – clean the city,” he said. Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said the priority remained to get the city out of financial trouble. “After this unprotected strike, the city is not in the best condition,” he added.

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