The City of Tshwane on Saturday evening issued 89 letters to the electricity switching teams across the city, excluding region seven, for failing to perform their duties during the ongoing illegal strike.
The liaison teams are the first people to respond to power outages, whose duty is mainly to isolate faults and to issue permits for testing or work permits if there is a need. They are also responsible for restoring power on the 11 kV network faults.
According to Selby Bokaba, spokesperson for the Tshwane metro, it was already the second week that these teams stayed away from work. They claim that they are intimidated by their striking colleagues.
“The city instructed them in writing to identify the persons or employees who intimidate them or prevent them from fulfilling their duties,” says Bokaba.
“Furthermore, they were instructed that if they failed to identify their alleged intimidators, they would also be considered part of the strikers, and all the applicable provisions for striking employees would apply to them.”
The liaison teams have until Monday at 11 a.m. to respond in writing to the city’s request.
Several parts of the city were plunged into darkness due to the ongoing illegal and unprotected strike by employees affiliated with the municipality union Samwu. The Monday has lasted for two weeks.
Some areas were without electricity for more than five days.
The Tshwane metro already sent 41 letters of possible suspension to striking municipal workers associated with Samwu on Thursday after they failed to comply with the interim interdict the metro obtained last week.
The metro also approached the labor court in Johannesburg on an urgent basis – this time for contempt of court. Judgment on the matter has been reserved until tomorrow.
