AfriForum branches offers to help Tshwane Metro

AfriForum will activate its branches in the Tshwane Metro to help with service delivery after members of the trade union Samwu and other officials participated in an illegal strike over wages. This strike had a significant impact on service delivery in the Metro. Municipal workers from Samwu are demanding a wage increase of between 3,5% and 5,4%.

Cilliers Brink, mayor of the Tshwane Metro, announced that they had warned 41 officials with the intention of dismissing them. Dewet Ungerer, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Greater Pretoria South, believes that there must be serious consequences for these illegal strikers who currently want to weaken service delivery in the metro. “We want to see the mayor take a strong stand to act against these officials, but we as AfriForum also have to look at what we can do to help the city council in this crisis,” says Ungerer.

It seems that the biggest crisis for residents of the Tshwane Metro currently is the lack of refuse removal. This can pose a major health risk and therefore AfriForum has created a platform for residents to identify areas where refuse is not removed. “We will discuss this information with the Metro and where they don’t have the ability to remove refuse, we will see how we can resolve the situation,” says Morné Mostert, manager for Local Government Affairs at AfriForum.

“The Metro is currently trying to meet all their financial obligations on every front. The city council disclosed their financial position during a media conference and pertinently mentioned that they are struggling to keep up with these obligations. It is therefore unreasonable for Samwu or other striking workers to ask for an increase when they already received an additional 18% increase in 2019,” concludes Mostert.

• Has your refuse not been removed because of the strike in the Tshwane Metro? Let us know here.