Services collapse wage row shows no end

Some of the Tshwane employees fighting for salary increments will now face the consequences for violence.

According to the metro, 30 employees will endure disciplinary action for their part in the violence and participation in the illegal strike action.

The metro says 41 staff members will also be issued letters of intention to terminate their employment should they continue striking.

The Capital City has been the centre of violence and service delivery disruption since last week, Monday following the South African municipal workers union (Samwu) strike action over annual increases on July 26.

The union engaged with mayor Cilliers Brink and city manager Johan Mettler on Wednesday, however, after the stalemate, the strike action intensified. The metro was granted an interim interdict against the striking workers by the Labour Court in Braamfontein.

I was keen on engaging workers today and accepting their memorandum however things turned violent with beer bottles flying all over the place.

(WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE) pic.twitter.com/vyzh9ccMwD

— Mayor Cilliers Brink (@tshwane_mayor) July 26, 2023

 

The South African local government bargaining council (SALGBC) on July 27 directed Tshwane to implement salary increases within 10 days, after which Tshwane has since witnessed a fully blown strike.

The stalemate and strike action has since resulted in about 30 employees facing internal action and/or criminal charges.

Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said: “Fifteen employees have been arrested and charged with public violence. Four have already been charged internally, and the other 11 will face similar charges.”

Bokaba said 41 letters of intention to dismiss would be issued by Thursday to striking employees affiliated to trade union movement Samwu.

Ga-Rankuwa and Rosslyn Fire Stations are closed due to intimidation and threats. #CoTIllegalStrike pic.twitter.com/gX4PqSunQ8

— City of Tshwane (@CityTshwane) August 3, 2023

 

He also threatened that Tshwane would approach the Labour Court on an urgent basis for contempt of court after the city manager had issued multiple ultimatums to the striking employees to return to work and desist from intimidating their non-striking colleagues.

“On July 28, the Labour Court granted the city an interim interdict which declared the strike action unlawful and unprotected and ordered the striking employees to disperse. It further restrained strikers from participating in the unlawful strike action and performing any acts in the continuance or furtherance thereof,” Bokaba said.

“The striking employees have disregarded the court order and therefore are guilty of contempt of court, hence the city has resolved to approach the Labour Court again today for the enforcement of the interim interdict, which will empower the police to arrest the striking employees and the Samwu leadership.”

He said residents of Tshwane could not be held to ransom by the striking employees.

Bokaba said the metro was also in the process of identifying more employees who were involved in the illegal strike.

He said they too would be charged criminally internally or through police.

“There are employees that have already been identified to have participated in the illegal strike and intimidated their non-striking colleagues who are at risk of being summarily dismissed. This will hopefully serve as a deterrent to others.”

He said the metro had put in place recovery plans to address the service backlog resulting from the illegal strike action.

“Turnaround times for attending to interruptions will be delayed due to intimidation of employees.”

The city-wide strike action has brought service delivery to its knees with the Ga-Rankuwa and Rosslyn fire stations closed on Thursday due to intimidation and threats.

The Tshwane bus commuters have been casualties for over two weeks as they were left stranded due to the metro withholding its bus operations.

In the weeks of the violent discourse; two A Re Yeng buses were attacked, in one incident one bus was pelted with stones in Menlo Park, Pretoria east.

The A Re Yeng bus had to seek shelter at a filling station with commuters on board after receiving threats. It was later escorted by the TMPD.

Clinics have also been forced to shut down while the waste collection backlog grew.

The Hatherley municipal dumping site also caught fire over the weekend, which further made it inaccessible thus affecting waste collection in regions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.

Tshwane mayor Cillier Brink said the metro was in no position to fork out R600-million in salary increases to its staff.

Brink on August 1 said the violent and well-orchestrated strike action was an assault on Tshwane.

He said the protesters were intimidating staff and sabotaging infrastructure.

“The intention is clearly to cause chaos and disruption so Tshwane is forced to pay salary increases, which we cannot afford.

“Clinics are being shut down, water and electricity restoration is delayed and employees are being intimidated, while waste collection is also affected.”

SALGBC directed Tshwane to increase salaries by 5.4% as per the 2021 collective bargaining agreement after the union had written to the SALGBC to ask it to enforce the agreement as per Section 33A of the Labour Relations Act, Samwu general secretary Dumisane Magagula said.

The SALGBC order directs Tshwane to implement the increases as follows:

– Salary increase of 5.4% effective from July 1, 2023.

– Minimum wage increase to R9 531.54.

– Homeowner allowance increased to R1 011.77

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