In Durban, garbage remains uncollected as city workers continue their wildcat strike over pay.Photo: Jonathan Erasmus
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomsa Dube Ncube has promised a crackdown to prevent further disruption of parliamentary services due to violent strikes by city workers, and hopes the city will be fully restored by the end of this week. I'm looking forward to it.
This comes as rubbish continues to pile up across the city after city services were suspended last Wednesday due to a wildcat strike over pay by members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu).
Large parts of Durban's north, west and south remained without water over the weekend after strikers destroyed numerous reservoir valves and sabotaged pipelines in an attempt to disrupt city services and force the city's hand. It became a state.
Businesses in the Umgeni Road and Springfield Park areas were forced to close, and city workers who were not on strike were unable to report to work on Friday and Monday.
There was a lot of violence and vandalism on Friday, with council vehicles being used to dump garbage on the streets and blocking access to council facilities, and a number of stone-pelting incidents were reported in the Umgeni Street area on Monday morning. It was done.
Durban was the epicenter of the July 2021 riots following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, and there are fears the strikes could lead to widespread violence and looting in the city.
At a press conference in Durban on Monday, Dube Ncube and iThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda pledged to end service disruptions and prosecute those responsible for the violence and vandalism.
Dube-Ncube said the provincial cabinet met over the weekend to consult with the national security minister on how to deal with the crisis in the city and bring those responsible for the violence to book.
Dube-Ncube said that while the right to strike is guaranteed, workers do not have the right to destroy infrastructure, deprive residents of services or violate the rights of other citizens.
“The government cannot tolerate or allow anarchy to prevail,” Dube-Ncube said. “Illegal proliferation cannot be tolerated.”
Dube-Ncube said initial arrests had been made of strikers involved in infrastructure destruction and other acts of violence, and video footage was being evaluated to bring criminal charges against others.
“The government will no longer tolerate a climate of fear, including the vandalism of critical infrastructure such as water and electricity, incursions into premises and the forcible removal of staff from their workplaces, and the denial of patients' rights to access health facilities. “Yes,” she said. she said.
The scenes witnessed over the past few days amounted to “pure criminality, economic sabotage and treason.”
The city is still assessing the impact and financial implications of the strike, but has met with the business community to explain what steps it has taken to bring the situation under control.
These included the establishment of a technical task team involving all levels of government to coordinate interventions and provide additional security and police to protect facilities and non-striking workers. .
“Metro Police and private security personnel are being deployed to escort personnel to delivery locations for services such as roadway snow removal, power outage, water leaks, burst pipes, and trash removal. Both city and state law enforcement agencies We are on high alert and will take action,” she said.
While key staff worked remotely, contractors were called in under escort to help collect trash and restore electricity and water to areas affected by the sabotage.
Police are analyzing video evidence and plan to prosecute employees who destroyed property and misused municipal vehicles. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Cooperative Governance had formed a team to help expedite disposal of internal disciplinary cases.
Legal action will also be taken to seek damages from both the individuals involved and Samwu, who staged an unprotected strike demanding wages on par with those in Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg.
Mr Dube-Ncube said the issue was being discussed between trade unions and the government at the Local Government Bargaining Council and not in consultation with individual councils.
He said eThekwini would proceed with enforcing the High Court injunction it secured against the strikers last week, and those who continued the violent obstruction of service would be prosecuted for their crimes.
The workers were instructed to return to work and received no wages or benefits during the period they were participating in the illegal strike.
“It is of grave concern that Samwu and its striking employees are violating and flouting court injunctions as violence, intimidation and vandalism against staff continues.” Mr. Ncube said.
In response to a question about whether the strike had been “hijacked” by the ANC's internal political struggles, Mr Kaunda said he would leave it to the security cluster to comment on that.
On Friday, members of Jacob Zuma's Umkhonto Wisizwe party marched in Durban against service delivery failures, and were joined by striking Samwu members.
“I would rather leave it to law enforcement,” Kaunda said. “They all work in the city: the intelligence services, the police, the SANDF. [South African National Defence Force] Everything is a combination of efforts. They will be able to tell you exactly what sources of information are coming together at the local level. ”
Kaunda said the extent and cost of damage to infrastructure was not yet known, but he expected service to be restored by Friday.
“We cannot allow this type of behavior by our employees to continue in the city. By the end of the week, we hope to have stability in all aspects of our work,” he said.
Sankure said in a statement that it has held a meeting to discuss the “impasse” with the city and plans to meet with city council leadership on Wednesday to discuss the city's demands.
The union bailed out a number of its members who were arrested during the strike.
Samwu respected the court's injunction, but “the union continues to explore alternative means to address grievances and compel employers to meet their obligations.”
