From bad to worse for South Africa’s richest city
Joburg Water has confirmed that workers have launched an unprotected strike, warning that already crisis-hit services could be impacted.
The strike, which began as a ‘go slow’ by workers, comes as the city faces multiple water failures and protracted outages.
The strike action started on Friday, 6 February, Joburg Water said. However, the union leading the strike, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU), insisted that it was not a strike.
Joburg Water said that workers undertook the action without following the legally required procedures. As such, it has been deemed an unprotected strike.
It added that continued participation in the action is on a no-work, no-pay basis.
“Joburg Water is engaging the matter through established and appropriate labour relations channels to address the issues raised in a structured, lawful and responsible manner,” it said.
The group said that it is “regrettable” that the strike is happening amid a significant water supply crisis and is placing additional strain on critical service delivery.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused and appreciate the patience and understanding shown by residents, businesses, and community stakeholders during this period.”
The utility said that, as a precautionary measure, it would be implementing contingency measures, including the use of contractors as necessary, to minimise disruptions.
It urged employees to comply with the law.
According to reports, the strike action is over a pay dispute related to bonuses. Workers have taken exception to the utility allegedly switching to paying bonuses based on discretion rather than workers’ performance.
The Democratic Alliance called on the city’s executive to urgently intervene, as the action amounted to an “effective shutdown” of services, with no one attending to bursts and addressing leaks.
“This go-slow effectively means that there have been little to no teams attending to bursts, clearing sewage or supplying tankers. This comes at a time when some parts of Joburg have been without water for well over two weeks,” the party said.
Residents across the City have had to endure prolonged outages from Midrand, to Melville to Bezuidenhout Valley as well as Crown Gardens and South Hills.
Residents of Sandton, Midrand, Alexandra and Diepsloot were recently left without water for over a week due to power outages and emergency repairs.
Rand Water announced this week that the water system is under extreme pressure at the moment due to overconsumption in Johannesburg and Tshwane.
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