Mayor says if Pretoria falls, SA falls

The Tshwane mayor says he will not budge on the issue of no salary increases this year, despite unions disrupting service delivery.

“This is not a personal standpoint. It is not about being hard-headed, but about sticking to our original promise of 2016, sticking to clean and healthy governance giving residents worth and value for their money. It is about finding a sustainable way going forward,” said Cilliers Brink.

He said there is no point in negotiating with the workers, as the city does not have the money for the 5.4% salary increases.

“The money is not there. We do not have the R600 million to give salary increases,” explained Brink.

At the end of June, the city was underfunded by R3-billion .

“Should we pay the increases, we will be bankrupt within three months. I am not scared of political parties and trade unions, but I am really scared of the consequences of bankruptcy. If we give in, there will be nothing left of the municipality.”

Brink believed the salary scales of 2019, which led to 12 to 18% increases for some employees, added to the city’s financial woes.

He is intensely focused on preventing this from happening again.

“We need to turn this culture of intimidation of city councils for salary increases around,” he said.

Brink has been encouraged by the Labour Court upholding the metro decision to withhold the salaries of more than 300 striking employees last week.

In August, the capital city withheld the salaries of 319 of its employees for engaging in what it called an illegal strike.

The city has dismissed more than 120 employees during the strike.

It has also taken the ruling of the bargaining council that compelled it to make the salary adjustments on review to the Labour Court.

Brink said he and his administration will not be held hostage by criminal elements in the workforce as the intimidation, attacks on municipal assets and employees and violence have made the strike no longer a labour issue.

“That is where the real disruption lies and not the strike on its own. It is a concerted effort to create chaos.”

Brink recently joined hundreds of metropolitan police officers who escorted metro waste trucks on their rounds. At the time, he said the city needs the police to step in.

“If we lose Pretoria to chaos and lawlessness, we will also lose the rest of the country,” said Brink. “It is also about the bigger fight of not legitimising violence and intimidation.”

He is encouraged by recent talks with Minister of Police, Bheki Cele.

Brink especially apologised to residents in Pretoria North and Soshanguve for the disruption of services, as they seemed to carry the brunt of the strike.

Catch-up plans for service delivery delays are in place, said Brink.

He is kept up at night by various factors, like a loss of R2 billion in electricity sales due to load-shedding, exacerbating the current critical situation and not getting attention.

To him stopping the attacks and getting finances out of the intensive care unit should be priorities now. He believes mediation is futile because the funds are not available.

He emphasised that his faith is carrying him through the ordeal, as well as the support of his mayoral management committee and family.

“It is about steadying the ship and knowing what is on the line if we do not stick to our game plan.”