‘We are not on strike’ says union as metro service delivery collapses
"I'm tired of the bad service and the fact that one's complaints fall on deaf ears."
A municipal workers’ union, whose members have been accused of disrupting service delivery in Tshwane, has distanced itself from any further industrial on its behalf.
“Our workers are back at work again,” said South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) regional secretary Mpho Tladinyane.”
The Tshwane metro had on Monday, obtained a court interdict against protesting workers affiliated to us.
“We have adhered to the court order, so the workers are back.”
“We have said to the metro that if there is a problem with workers, they must call us.”
Samwu will attend to the matter and check on what the issue might be.
“Samwu said clearly there were people taking advantage of the impasse between the metro and its employees, stealing and vandalising infrastructure.”
“If there are members participating in such, please refrain from doing that.”
ALSO READ: Samwu wants mayor to prioritise on jobs
“The strike left several parts of Tshwane without any power for several days, while no refuse was collected and other services such as water and sanitation were also impacted.”
Affected resident Veronica Masilo of Thaba Tshwane said: “We were again without any electricity today [Tuesday], which makes it day four. We have received nothing concrete from the department of public works or the metro.”
“I have a daughter who is attending online schooling and she has been affected, losing two days of her school work.”
Resident Esmerelda Maarman said they have been without any water or electricity for days now.
“I’m tired of the bad service and the fact that one’s complaints fall on deaf ears,” she said.
“These people don’t care. It has put my life and my family’s lives at risk. We have been self-isolating since the lockdown and have not been visiting family and friends, however, the lack of services has become an issue.”
In Sunnyside, residents have also been without electricity for five days. Other affected areas include Lynnwood, Garsfontein, Faerie Glen, Silverton, Waterkloof, Mamelodi East and West, Nellmapius, Muckleneuk, Pretoria North and Centurion.
When approached for clarity on whether workers were still striking on Wednesday afternoon, Tshwane metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba directed Rekord to a previous statement from the metro stating workers were on strike.
However, Samwu refuted this, saying the statement was untrue. A Re Yeng bus and Tshwane Bus services, however, had to be suspended with immediate effect on Wednesday, due to safety concerns.
ALSO READ: Samwu urges metro administrator to deal with ‘urgent’ issues
“Our bus drivers were threatened,” said Bokaba.
Considering that there is no security along our operational areas after 15 of our traffic controllers were damaged, we decided to withdraw our fleet.
He said the metro lost approximately R500 000 to repair the traffic controllers that were damaged.
⚠️UPDATE:
Dear Commuters,
Please kindly note that our bus operations is still suspended, we urge you to make alternative transport arrangements.
We will continue to provide updates via our social media platforms, we apologise for the inconvenience caused. @CityTshwane
— A RE YENG (@A_RE_YENG) July 29, 2020
Together the citizens of Tshwane will stop paying their water, electricity and rates & taxes if you don't get your act together! #restoreourpower
— Average Citizen (@AvgCitizenSA) July 29, 2020
Stop taking the citizens of Tshwane's money for granted, your lack of service delivery is astounding! #restoreourpower
— Average Citizen (@AvgCitizenSA) July 29, 2020
The ANC illegally took control of the Tshwane Municipality earlier this year. Now workers are striking and NO service delivery. Large parts of city without power and water for days now. So called “ African City of Excellence “ , seat of the administration….what a joke!
— Sam H (@SamH21398061) July 29, 2020
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