An unprotected municipal strike entered its second day in East London and King William’s Town on Wednesday.
While the SA Municipal Worker's Union (Samwu) members gathered and sang peacefully in front of the East London City Hall, in King William’s Town things took an ugly turn with a number of police vehicles and an SABC crew vehicle being damaged by protesters throwing stones.
Alexander Road was closed off, both by police and traffic officials and by protesters who blockaded the road with burning tyres, rubbish and tree trunks.
The SABC reported that one of its car windows had been damaged by flying stones while its reporters fled to safety.
At midday on Wednesday King William's Town police spokesperson Captain Siphokazi Mawisa said: “Police are on the scene in Alexander Road and are monitoring the situation. They are throwing stones at police vehicles. No arrests have been made yet.”
Buffalo City Metro (BCM) released a statement advising residents not to take out their rubbish for collection as municipal operations were halted by the strike.
All municipal departments including sanitation, water and firefighting were part of the protest. Mawisa announced late in the afternoon on Wednesday that the public order police were struggling to put out the fires on their own because there were no firefighters to help them.
BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya released a second statement late on Wednesday advising residents that the metro was “doing everything in its power” to ensure that services were not interrupted.
“We have met with recognised union leaders and we have made a lot of progress in coming to a common ground on the main issues at hand.
“We will continue advising residents on negotiation progress and on issues that affect the delivery of services like we did today where we have advised that they withhold taking out refuse until further notice,” said Ngwenya.
Samwu could not be reached for comment. The union’s regional secretary Zolani Ndlela’s phone rang unanswered...