Tshwane protest: The strike is over but…

Despite the end to the month-long illegal strike in Tshwane by South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) members, the city still seemed to be on a go-show as many services have not yet been restored.

Last week, mayor Cilliers Brink said the Tshwane household waste collection catch-up plan was on track as they tried to catch up on service delivery delays.

The A Re Yeng bus services were, however, among the services that were still suspended until further notice since the beginning of the strike, when workers attacked a bus with stones and shattered the windscreen.

A Re Yeng notified its commuters to find alternative transport. Commuters were frustrated by the suspension of the bus service, and said taking the train or taxi was more expensive.

“Being refunded won’t make any difference because the R600 will easily be finished in a week by taxi. Whereas that amount can last me for a month via bus,” said one bus commuter.

The Transformation Alliance leader, Abel Tau, said they were concerned about the governance incompetence and failure in Tshwane that not only compromises service delivery, but also puts jobs at risk.

“This morning, about a third of the city was plunged into darkness following a trip in the switch at Kwaggasrand substation infeed and had no power for more than five hours at the Rosslyn industrial hub.

“We are deeply concerned about the mismanagement and the collapse of governance in the city’s affairs as it continues unabated,” he said.

“We call on the provincial government to exercise the powers given to it by the constitution.”

Tau said Section 139 of the Municipal Systems Act empowers the provincial government to intervene when a municipality, because of a crisis in its financial affairs, was in serious or persistent material breach of its obligations to provide basic services or to meet its financial commitments, or admits that it was unable to meet its obligations or financial commitments.

He called on the provincial government to intervene and save the much-needed jobs that might be lost if the status quo remains.

He said the city was not only failing to provide basic services, but they were also not paying suppliers and service providers on time.

“They aren’t responding to service delivery requests timeously, but they are now risking more than 200 000 job losses, with the investors and businesses operating at Rosslyn industrial hub having to worry about electricity supply,” he said.

“The current state of affairs in Tshwane is a reflection of the incompetent DA/ActionSA coalition government.

“While ActionSA can complain about other parties elsewhere, they can’t run away from the mess that is the city, which they are co-governing,” he said.