WATCH: Chaos in CBD as Samwu workers storm Tshwane House
Roads were blocked by waste removal trucks and other municipal vehicles, rubbish was strewn in the streets and wheelie bins set alight.
Municipal workers affiliated to Samwu protest in Tshwane CBD, 21 July 2020. Screengrab from Twitter video.
Furious workers caused chaos on Tuesday in Tshwane’s CBD as they broke down the main gate at Tshwane House and stormed the building, demanding their “benchmarking” payments.
Police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, which saw workers scattering down the streets to get out of the way, before they regrouped in front of the building. The workers are affiliated to the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu).
Pretoria CBD: South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) protest. @CityTshwane pic.twitter.com/4fUM65qIRM
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) July 21, 2020
Earlier in the day, rubbish bins were upended in the street and municipal wheelie bins were set alight. Some workers also blocked traffic by parking waste removal trucks and municipal vehicles on the corner of Lillian Ngoyi and Mandela streets.
The Gautrain was forced to suspend its bus service until further notice because of the situation.
Tshwane Bus Service buses also couldn’t run because of the protest, “which affect our buses to depart in the depots. We will provide continuous updates on the resumption once the situation is stabilized as our drivers are ready to operate”.
Chaos broke out at Tshwane House on Tuesday as angry workers affiliated to the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) stormed the municipal headquarters after they deadlocked with the employer over their outstanding “benchmarking” payments: @pretorianews pic.twitter.com/RQckWUn0Ja
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) July 21, 2020
Regional Samwu chairperson Nkhetheni Muthavhi said the workers won’t stop demanding their outstanding payments, adding that it was better for them to die of coronavirus instead of poverty, iol reports.
Muthavhi said that a team of administrators led by Tshwane head administrator Mpho Nawa said they could not afford the payouts, upon which workers started the protest.
Situation earlier on in Pretoria CBD, from the word of mouth, municipal workers are striking for salary increment. pic.twitter.com/Pbi7y06Uws
— RIOT & ATTACK info South Africa (@RiotAndAttackSA) July 21, 2020
“The only money that we need is R756 million to cover our payments. Two weeks back they said they have R300 million to pay for benchmarking.
“On Monday, they don’t have millions; they don’t have anything. One wonders whether they want to steal from the poor workers.
“They seem to have an over-excessive appetite for stealing,” he said.
The city administration did, however, agree to implement the wage increase of 6.25%.
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