Tshwane road blockaders to be charged, may get fired

The City of Tshwane is determined to bring criminal charges against the striking bus drivers responsible for the gridlock in the city centre yesterday.

The capital city’s central business district was plunged into chaos after municipal workers blocked roads with buses belonging to the Tshwane Bus Services.

South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) regional secretary Mpho Tladinyane confirmed its workers were protesting about wages.

“It’s not only municipal bus drivers that are on strike, but general workers affiliated to Samwu are also demanding an 18% increase,” he said. “We have spoken to the senior managers about the increase, but it seems that there’s no way forward.”

He said the union would continue with the protest “and bring the city to a standstill”.

However, Tladinyane denied the union had known the buses would be used in a blockade.

Roads and transport member of the mayoral committee Sheila Senkubuge said although the city respected the rights of workers to protest, it did not condone the “theft and abandonment of municipal property”, nor the use of said property to inconvenience other road users in the city.

She said: “We now have a list of all the drivers who stole buses and abandoned the vehicles on the roads. We will be laying criminal charges against them and there will also be disciplinary action taken against them.

“There is a strong possibility they will lose their jobs.”

She added that the question of whether or not the drivers responsible would be arrested had been left up to law enforcement officials.

Senkubuge said the city had managed to move the buses off the roads and “beef up” security.

“We will do everything we can to ensure they don’t use our buses,” she added.

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula also condemned the road blockades. He said striking workers should not infringe on the rights of others.

The statement issued read: “Minister Mbalula has urged bus drivers to respect the rights of other road users, to discuss their grievances with the municipality and to desist from blockading roads.

“The City of Tshwane is not only the administrative capital of the country, it’s also a critical economic hub.

“So, a shutdown of this nature not only undermines the rights of other road users to go to work and go about their daily lives, it also has the potential to deal quite a severe blow to our economy.

“Such disruptions can ill be afforded.”

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