Samwu strikers’ political in-house brawl with their Buffalo City Metro bosses which has coincided with a spate of arson has wreaked destruction and havoc across King William’s Town and East London.
The DA has called for an emergency council meeting, with caucus leader Kevin Mileham saying their calculations of the cost to residents and state was already R100m.
The multitude of social and economic effects have ranged from huge outages affecting thousands of residents, and businesses to a die-off of tiny indigenous fish at Nahoon Beach from a sewage spill.
The EFF’s chair in the region Mzuyanda Hlekiso said Samwu’s punishment of the people and business and the destruction of municipal property was unwelcome.
King William’s Town was a filthy mess. Many businesses shut shop, among them the popular Hungry Lion which had its rolldown doors firmly in place.
Massive Liquor bottle store owner Lukho Ntintishe said the generator guzzles R450 in petrol daily, but was not powerful enough “I sell warm beer and my custormers don’t like that so they go elsewhere”. Since Wednesday he spent R3,150 on unplanned expenditure.
Branch manager at Shoprite Clinton Glover, said closing, their Hungry Lion business had caused a loss of R70,000 and 10 staff were at home earning no pay.
Glover said: “Their contracts are based on the no-work-no-pay policy. This strike has nothing to do with our staff. They should not be affected.
“The guys from the municipality used a burning tyre to torch our transformer on Wednesday. I was there with security guards to tell them to stop. I was scared that they were going to burn the store itself. ”
Dispatch saw sewage running in the streets near the municipality's Civic Centre in Cambridge Street and the busy intersections of Cathcart, Walker Downing streets.
A fruit seller, whose name is known to the Dispatch, said: “This started on Wednesday last week when boys wearing municipal uniforms opened that inspection cover allowing the sewage to run out in the street.”
Border Kei Chamber of Business executive director Les Holbrook said: “The impact on business, society and public is quantified beyond just money. The harm to people, their livelihoods and existence is threatened by people who claim to be doing this for a reason.
“The loss to the economy, business confidence and jobs will take its toll. Ultimately the economy collapses completely. Destroyed state infrastructure such as municipal buildings, schools, clinics and community halls, cannot be replaced.”
The DA has written to council speaker Alfred Mtsi requesting a special council meeting.
The DA cited standing rules and orders which give the speaker the power to convene special council meetings at his own discretion. DA BCM constituency leader Kelvin Mileham said councillors needed to be updated on the strike and its alarming impact on residents.
“The ongoing strike by Samwu members in BCM has escalated to acts of criminality, arson and widespread littering on a grand scale. Water and electricity to parts of BCM have been interrupted.  Municipal buildings, vehicles and infrastructure have been destroyed and service delivery has basically come to a standstill,” said Mileham.
Thuggish attacks on the weekend saw more torchings which left thousands of people without water or electricity.
Businesses were forced to close or find alternative power and water supplies while residents bought or collected water from family and friends.
Chaos reigned from Friday afternoon into the night when unidentified arsonists set alight electrical boxes along Victoria Street in King William’s Town and a substation in Quigney.
The traffic department in Braelyn was also gutted, destroying at least three offices and the learners’ testing centre. A case has been registered with police. BCM has blamed Samwu for the destruction, an allegation the union has “categorically denied”.
Mayor Xola Pakati did not respond to calls and messages from the Daily Dispatch while Mtsi’s phone was on voicemail the whole day on Wednesday...