Roads agency calls for stop to intimidation

The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) JRA employees embarked on a strike in dispute on three main matters, from an original 15, that management and SAMWU had not been able to reach consensus on.

“Despite agreements for a peaceful strike, free of intimidation, we have over the past week, noted a significant increase in intimidation of JRA workers and conrtactors out on site attending to road maintenance as well as those fixing traffic signals,” cautions JRA Managing Director Skhumbuzo Macozoma. “Acts such as petrol bombing homes, damaging property; and injuring and threatening employees at work is criminal behaviour and cannot be tolerated in a constitutional democracy in which the right to safety of every individual is protected by the Constitution.”

Since the beginning of the strike action, the following acts of intimidation and damage to property have been reported:

• A traffic signal technician was assaulted yesterday at Malibongwe Road and Witkoppen Road by four people who had vandalized the controller and were waiting for his arrival whereupon they attacked and hit him with a sjambok;

• Three employees sustained minor injuries after they were attacked by stick wielding assailants while attending to road maintenance in Mayfair yesterday;

• Technicians re-cabling a traffic signal intersection at Marshall and Mooi streets on 18 March at 11.09am were intimidated by four men – JRA has camera footage of this which will be used in prosecution;

• A number of acts of intimidation of employees at JRA Regional depots has been reported, including assaulting a general worker and threatening an employee with his life should he not stop performing his duties;

• Two employee vehicles have been spray painted as well as a house in Bramfisherville; and another two vehicle windows smashed.

“Stemming from yesterday’s incident we are also in the process of investigating allegations of illegal tampering with traffic signal controllers causing the traffic light to malfunction, which is increasing the number of faulty traffic signals across the City. This is done to alert non-striking technicians to the site for repairs whereupon intimidation takes place,” said Macozoma.

“Close to two thirds of the JRA’s 1600 workforce is currently on strike, and we are reliant on the good work done by non-striking staff as well as contractors appointed as part of the strike contingency planning”, explains Macozoma, “Additional security has been solicited through security contractors and the JMPD who are placed at all JRA depots and patrol workers out on site. However we cannot place lives at risk, and with these increased levels of violence and intimidation of staff and contractors, our ability to attend to all road related issues and faulty traffic signals reported within the agreed Customer Service timeframes is compromised, and to this end we thank the community for their patience and understanding until final resolution on the strike can be reached.”

The JRA will be engaging with SAMWU to address these concerns as well the strike.