Outcry over Pietermaritzburg CBD's poor state due to illegal strike by EPWP workers
Msunduzi Municipality city hall building. A strike by EPWP workers from the waste collection department has left the CBD in a poor state.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
Ratepayers and opposition parties are outraged at the poor state of the Pietermaritzburg CBD following a crippling strike by workers in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). The staff downed tools a few days ago, demanding to be hired on a full-time basis. The strike has left mountains of uncollected refuse in the streets.
Msunduzi Municipality spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize stated that the strike was now over.
“The Msunduzi Municipality is hard at work catching up on the impact of the recent illegal strike, particularly in the areas of cleansing and waste collection for both business and domestic waste. While attending to our scheduled waste collection programme, we are also simultaneously addressing the backlogs that accumulated to ensure that waste management, as a critical trading service, is fully restored.
“The municipality sincerely apologises to our communities for the disruption to this basic service over the past two weeks due to the illegal strike. We remain firmly committed to ensuring the consistent provision of waste management services across the City,” she said.
Yesterday, The Mercury observed many streets of the capital city with uncollected rubbish piled up in street corners.
Some areas had not been swept, and a few of the rubbish-filled refuse bags were torn, leaving litter strewn all over the city centre. City councillors reported that the staff had downed tools, demanding to be insourced.
ACDP councillor Rienus Niemand expressed bemusement at what he termed the “incompetence and confusion within the ANC-led minority government regarding policy and governance.”
“At the last council meeting, they insisted and voted that all workers must be insourced. Now that the EPWP workers insist on being insourced, they want to fire them! The city is in a dire state due to management and political incompetence. The ACDP calls on the municipal manager to stand strong and not allow himself to be intimidated. Employees are hired to work, and those who will not must be replaced without delay. The ratepayers of the city are sick and tired of high tariffs and non-existent services,” said the ACDP councillor.
DA councillor Ross Strachan expressed concern over what he termed ongoing protest action at the Msunduzi waste department depot, stating that it has severely disrupted essential service delivery across the municipality. The water and sanitation department, which shares the same depot, has also been adversely affected, leading to delays in addressing urgent water-related issues.
“Although there has been a marginal improvement in waste removal in some areas, the overall situation remains precarious. It is clear that the root causes of these protests are tied to ongoing political instability, infighting, and poor leadership within the ANC-led administration. Without decisive and transparent intervention, further protest action appears inevitable. The impact of this disruption is being felt most by residents, who are once again left to bear the brunt of the situation,” he said.
Anthony Waldhausen of the Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers and Civics (MARRC) condemned the actions of the striking workers. Residents have been experiencing ongoing problems with the waste management unit, where refuse has not been collected consistently, he said. He noted that the Msunduzi council increased refuse collection fees by 7%, but residents do not receive reliable refuse collection services.
“The municipality should consider supporting major recycling campaigns to reduce unnecessary waste going to landfill sites and support local kerbside recycling initiatives to collect recycled materials as part of income generation for the unemployed and local recycling companies. Additionally, there needs to be a long-term waste management education campaign, along with fines for those who litter and engage in illegal dumping. This would generate extra funds for the municipality.”