Tshwane's Executive Mayor, Cilliers Brink, was in Mamelodi East on Wednesday afternoon to assist teams with implementing Tshwane's household waste collection catch-up plan following five weeks of illegal strikes.
Brink said: "Over the past several weeks, waste collection across Tshwane has been severely affected by illegally striking employees affiliated to Samwu who shut down municipal landfill sites and intimidated and attacked contracted service providers."
"Service providers were forced to withhold their services, and they would only deploy their vehicles when the city provided security. While this was possible in some instances, repeated attacks (and in one case, arson) on waste teams caused severe backlogs in the city’s waste collection schedule, especially in Regions 1, 3, 4, and 6."
As part of the city’s efforts to manage the situation, a plan that deviates from its usual schedule and focuses on targeted collections in selected areas mostly outside of normal working hours was implemented to eliminate the impact of the strikes on services to residents.
The city implemented its plan on Monday, with the assistance of the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) as well as private security firms.
According to the City, this initiative has been highly successful so far, with household waste collected in large areas, including Centurion, Laudium, Atteridgeville, Pretoria CBD, Erasmusrand, Monumentpark, Waterkloof, Brooklyn, Atteridgeville, Mamelodi, Nellmapius, Eersterust, Pretoria West, and Rietondale, among others.
"We have noticed a marked decrease in security incidents, resulting in the majority of service providers returning to work. Therefore, we are confident that we will provide this essential service to residents despite the ongoing illegal strike. Furthermore, we ask that bins be placed outside on the normal scheduled days until they are collected," said Brink.
Brink has also encouraged striking members to return to work following the SA Municipal Workers Union's (Samwu) call for an end to the wage increase strike. However, he has continued to encourage Samwu's leadership to further engage with its members so that the no strike message is clear to all, as they continue to face a number of challenges at work.
"Our residents have suffered numerous service delivery interruptions. Furthermore, the reality is that on the ground, the strike is not over. We are still seeing so-called go-slows and significant work stoppages by employees who still refuse to follow work instructions. There are also ongoing acts of violence and intimidation directed at staff and service providers," Brink said.
Residents have been assured that the city is committed to delivering services to all of its communities.
IOL