Comrades passes without disruption despite Msunduzi strike
The municipality said that while the strike remains ongoing, contingency measures remain in place.
The Msunduzi Municipality approached the Labour Court last week in an attempt to curb strike-related disruptions that had affected parts of Pietermaritzburg, including interruptions to electricity supply and uncollected waste, as tensions escalated between the municipality and striking workers.
Municipal manager Felakhe Mndebele said the City was forced to seek an urgent Labour Court interdict as industrial action by the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) began to affect essential services and raised concerns over staff safety.
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Samwu members have been engaged in a protected strike since June 11. However, Mndebele alleged that some striking workers breached picketing rules, including intimidation of colleagues reporting for duty, damage to municipal vehicles, and illegal dumping of refuse.
He said staff were temporarily withdrawn from duty in some instances to protect them from what he described as “violent and unacceptable behaviour”.
Mndebele said the municipality also raised concerns in court over the potential impact of the strike on the Comrades Marathon weekend, which took place on Sunday.
“The application was brought before the court on Friday evening and continued on Saturday. The court reserved judgment, and the order was issued by the Registrar of the Labour Court at around 10.18am on Sunday morning,” he said.
He added that SAPS and Public Order Policing were alerted as a precautionary measure to ensure no disruption occurred during the event.
Although the court later struck the application from the roll for lack of urgency, citing non-compliance with Labour Relations Act provisions and failure to escalate the matter through the bargaining council, Mndebele said the municipality had achieved its immediate objective of maintaining service stability and preventing escalation during the marathon weekend.
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The municipality said that while the strike remains ongoing, contingency measures remain in place and it will pursue further intervention through the bargaining council if picketing rules are breached.
