Tumultuous year for a beleaguered City of Tshwane

It has been a challenging year for the City of Tshwane, with the inauguration of a new mayor, continuous water issues, a deadly cholera outbreak, and a strike by municipal workers that saw the city come to a standstill.

Randall Williams’ resignation

The year kicked off with mayor Randall Williams announcing his resignation, effective end of February, following pressure from partners in the multi-party coalition over an adverse audit opinion for the 2021-22 financial year. The city had racked up R1.2 billion in irregular, fruitless or wasteful expenditure.

In March, Cilliers Brink took over leadership of the financially ruined capital and things seemed to run smoothly until members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) embarked on an illegal strike to demand salary increases in July.

The city stood its ground, saying it didn’t have the budget to pay higher salaries. Workers refused to accept its plea of poverty.

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Violent strike

The strike turned violent when more than 100 workers were dismissed, which left Tshwane’s service delivery at an all-time low, with prolonged power and water outages and other public services at a standstill.

Samwu members only returned to work four months later, in November, on a go-slow basis.

During the strike, municipal property (including garbage trucks and buses) was damaged and other infrastructure was vandalised and destroyed.

Cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal

In May, a cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal put the spotlight on the city and the quality of its water. The outbreak claimed 10 lives in a week, and 31 in total.

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Ironically, the point of contamination was never confirmed. Testing revealed the water was cholera-free but not safe for human consumption.

The city’s water supply was erratic, with Rand Water accusing the municipality of not paying its invoices on time and saying it owed it about R500 million.

It wasn’t going any better on the electricity front – this month power utility Eskom said the city owed it about R4.2 billion.

In June, another crack in the city’s infrastructure showed itself in the form of a sewerage issue in Capital Park, which led to the death of three contractors. They fell into a trench, which collapsed while they were trying to resolve a blockage after a monthslong sewage overflow.

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It was also a year of marches, strikes and protests in the capital, with a three-day e-hailing driver strike, a student march which turned violent and political parties marching and picketing.

TUT protest about issues with the Nsfas

Tshwane University of Technology students in March and September protested about issues with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. The September action turned violent, with an unconfirmed number of students arrested. Students who were dispersed allegedly started burning tyres in front of the department of higher education.

In July, Congress of South African Trade Unions members marched to the department of trade, industry and competition to hand over a memorandum against the high cost of living.

The Economic Freedom Fighters held various pickets, including at the Israeli embassy, rental property agency Huurkor’s head office and at the University of Pretoria, and there were multiple demonstrations and walkouts at Tshwane House during council meetings.

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