The labor court in Johannesburg then did not grant the City of Tshwane’s application for an order of contempt of court. The court did chastise the leadership of the municipal workers union Samwu for their failure to intervene in the ongoing (and illegal) strike in Tshwane, says Selby Bokaba, spokesperson for the Tshwane metro.
Meanwhile, the metro has sent no less than 38 dismissal letters to workers who still haven’t turned up for work, despite the metro obtaining an interdict declaring this strike illegal already two weeks ago.
The metro intends to thwart more illegal strikers.
Bokaba says the fired employees have not only disobeyed the order that the metro council obtained two weeks ago, but also the various ultimatums that city manager Johann Mettler has set over the past two weeks.
RNews earlier reported that the Tshwane metro issued 89 letters on Saturday evening to the electricity liaison teams in the city, excluding those in region seven, for failing to perform their duties.
The switch crews are the first people to respond to power outages. Their job is mainly to isolate errors and grant permits for testing or work, should there be a need. They are also responsible for repairing power faults on the 11 kV network.
However, these workers do not show up for work, apparently because they are intimidated by their colleagues.
The city instructed them in writing to identify those who intimidate or prevent them from fulfilling their duties. The liaison teams had until Monday at 11 a.m. to respond in writing to the city’s request.
