Pretoria - The City of Tshwane has withdrawn A Re Yeng, and Tshwane Bus Service operations in the wake of what it believes to be a “well co-ordinated criminal attack” on municipal infrastructure.
This comes amid calls for SAPS to act swiftly against criminals targeting municipal properties, attested by Wednesday incidents when four municipal vehicles were torched in the Pretoria CBD by striking workers.
Workers linked to the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) have been on strike for more than a month, demanding salary increases.
On Tuesday, bus operations resumed, although many drivers didn’t pitch for work, resulting in the municipality vowing to take to task those defying a Labour Court ruling declaring the strike unlawful and unprotected.
To date, the City has dismissed at least 123 employees for participating in the ongoing strike.
MMC for Roads and Transport, Katlego Mathebe, said the withdrawal of bus operations was made amid safety concerns for commuters.
A Tshwane bakkie, a water tanker, three trucks from the Water & Sanitation Department, and an A Re Yeng bus were damaged in various violent attacks in the CBD.
Mathebe said: “Therefore, in the interest of the safety of both our commuters and employees, we took the decision to suspend operations. Furthermore, it is important that we protect city infrastructure from these criminal acts. It is now clear that the City is no longer dealing with an illegal strike action. We are now dealing with a well co-ordinated criminal attack on our infrastructure.”
She apologised to commuters for the inconvenience caused and promised the City would intensify efforts to get the bus services back on track when it was safer to do so.
MMC for Community Safety Tshwane, Grandi Theunissen, also condemned organised violence and destruction taking place in the city.
“It is clear we are no longer dealing with an illegal strike action. We are now dealing with a well co-ordinated criminal attack against the City. What started as sporadic acts of violence linked to the illegal strike action has now escalated into what the coalition government believes is organised violence aimed at destabilising Tshwane by attacking the City, its property, and its employees,” he said.
Theunissen said mayor Cilliers Brink has asked the City manager, Johann Mettler, and acting metro police chief “to urgently engage higher spheres of government, specifically within the security cluster, to intensify their efforts to investigate these matters and make the necessary arrests”.
Mettler also denounced the attacks, saying: “The City of Tshwane condemns in the strongest terms the thuggish and violent character of the unlawful and unprotected strike that has bedevilled the City for more than a month. I urge the law enforcement agencies to be visible in conducting their policing duties and to apprehend the perpetrators.”
MMC for Human Settlements, Ofentse Madzebatela, called for swift police action after attacks on infrastructure and assault of a truck driver.
“A criminal case has been opened with the SAPS. It is now clear that the City is no longer dealing with an illegal strike action. We are now dealing with a well co-ordinated criminal attack on our infrastructure. Therefore, I would like to urge law enforcement agencies to act with haste and bring these criminals to book,” he said.
Samwu said it condemned “these acts of violence which seek to undermine the legitimate demands by workers” in the City. “We reiterate that our members are, and have always been at work. The union has not sanctioned any strike action,” Samwu said in a statement. “We are of the view that by dragging its feet in resolving the salary increase impasse between itself and its employees, the City has created an opportunity for opportunistic and criminal elements to hijack the noble demands by workers. These are our members who have been targeted.
“Those are tools of trade which our members should be using to deliver services to residents. Municipal workers are also residents of this city; they have no interest whatsoever in interrupting service delivery, as they too will be affected.”
The union, however, warned the City that its mishandling of the impasse would have severe consequences for the metro and employees, given the conducive environment created for opportunists.
“Brink should swallow his pride and pay workers what is due to them. The time is now for the mayor to put aside his pride, political ambitions and instructions, and do right by workers.”
Pretoria News