Four vehicles torched in latest attack amid Tshwane wage dispute

There was another violent attack in the City of Tshwane yesterday after four vehicles were burnt and two workers were rushed to hospital.

This has been considered sabotage by City of Tshwane (CoT) officials in the ongoing wage dispute between the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) members and the municipality.

CoT spokesperson Selby Bokaba confirmed the torching of two vehicles by striking employees.

“They were torched outside the Princess Park Depot along Nana Site (westbound) Charlotte Maxeke and Es’kia Mphahlele streets.

“The water truck which belonged to the city had just drawn water from the depot for delivery at some Region 4 informal settlements when the truck was set alight,” he said.

Bokaba said the driver was assaulted and managed to escape.

“Fortunately, he didn’t sustain serious injuries. However, the bakkie, which was also torched along the same precinct as the truck, belonged to the city’s asset protection monitoring unit. Two members were injured and taken to hospital,” he said.

Bokaba said the members were responsible for protecting city assets like depots and substations.

“They were busy monitoring the depots at the time of the ambush,” he said. Democratic Alliance Tshwane caucus spokesperson Kwena Moloto said the incident was a continuation of the illegal strike in Tshwane in the past seven weeks.

“It’s untenable. This is clear it is not a labour dispute but organised crime,” he said.

WATCH: ‘Striking Tshwane employees’ torch water truck

Moloto said four city vehicles were set alight yesterday.

“We need the assistance of police,” he added.

Despite the attempt by the city to get service delivery running again, it was withdrawn with immediate effect.

The Tshwane Bus Service was suspended and some municipal dumpsites were closed until further notice due to safety concerns.

Independent Municipal & Allied Trade Union Tshwane chairperson Melita Baloyi said there was chaos at the depot. “This morning, members arrived here to work, but sadly it is still unsafe to work. It’s chaos,” she said.

Councillor Dana Wannenburg is chair of the Section 79 oversight and standing committee.

He visited the Dorandia garden refuse removal site in the north of Pretoria where refuse trucks were being escorted by metro police and private security companies to start cleaning up after the month-long strike.

“The clean-up was suspended due to the violence in the city,” he said.

On Tuesday, the streets around the site were blocked off to start the clean-up of rubbish dumped on the pavement alongside the refuse site due to the ongoing strike.

Wannenburg said he understood the frustration of residents and the impact it had on service delivery.

But he urged residents to refrain from using companies for waste removal who illegally dumped waste on the streets.