The DA in eThekwini Municipality has called on the municipality to reimburse residents who did not receive services in the past few weeks as a result of the strike by city workers affiliated to the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu).
Refuse collection across the city was crippled by the strike, though in some areas the service has been partially restored.
“The DA in eThekwini strongly stands by the view that residents must be reimbursed by eThekwini which continues to fail and frustrate them at every turn,” said Thabani Mthethwa, the DA eThekwini caucus leader.
In a statement, the party said that during the strike, which has been allowed to spread unabated, infrastructure was damaged, leaving thousands without water and electricity. Refuse collection services also ceased, forcing many residents to live and walk daily among the piling-up waste and subsequent stench.
“While the municipality would like to believe the strike is over, the reality on the ground is that it is far from over as workers have simply employed a new strategy of clocking in for duty without performing their duties.
“It also cannot be that those intent on seeing the strike continue in one form or another be allowed to threaten workers wanting to perform their duties. We have already seen this result in the loss of life,” it said.
It said the eThekwini Municipality needs to start adopting a tougher stance. “Our call stands that those who don’t want to work, including city officials, be immediately fired and security protection be afforded to those wanting to work.”
The Mercury