The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality has suspended its bus services and has urged commuters to make alternative arrangements.
On Tuesday the municipality tried to resume its operations which it had stopped because of an ongoing strike but on Wednesday decided to discontinue the service after reports of violence and arson attacks on property belonging to the City.
Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for Roads and Transport Katlego Mathebe said in a statement the City regrets its decision to withdraw the bus services with immediate effect adding that two more vehicles were torched allegedly by the striking workers bringing the number to six cars that have been damaged during the duration of the strike.
“Residents of the City of Tshwane please take note that we have regrettably withdrawn with immediate effect our Tshwane bus service and Areyeng Bus operations. The decision follows several incidents of organised violence and the destruction of property in the city earlier today,” said Mathebe.
“A Tshwane bakkie, a water tanker, three trucks from water and sanitation and Areyeng bus were damaged in various violent attacks in Pretoria CBD. Therefore, in the interest of the safety of both our commuters and employees, we took a decision to suspend operations.
“Furthermore it is important that we protect city infrastructure from these criminal acts. It is now clear that the city is no longer dealing with illegal strike action but we are now dealing with a well coordinated criminal attack on our infrastructure.
“I would like to apologise to our commuters for the inconvenience caused and the city will continue to ensure that all efforts are intensified to get the bus operation back on track when it is safer to do so,” she said.
The metro reported earlier that it will not be able to honour the 2021 South African Local Bargaining Council (SALGBC) collective agreement which would see workers receiving a 3.5%, 4.9% and 5.4% salary and wage increase for years 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively because of financial constraints.
SALGBC dismissed the City’s exemption application and this was largely welcomed by labour unions. But the City said it will take the decision on review.
More than a 100 employees have been fired since the strike started in July. Seven more have been letters of the city’s intention to dismiss them.
