By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Johannesburg Water confirmed late this afternoon that the unprotected South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) strike has officially ended with immediate effect.
The strike action started on Friday, 6 February, Joburg Water said. However, the union leading the strike, SAMWU, insisted that it was not a strike.
Fulllview understands workers downed tools over unpaid December bonuses, with Samwu, saying the employees were not properly consulted before deductions were made.
“ Johannesburg Water confirms that, following ongoing constructive engagement with Samwu, the unprotected strike undertaken from Friday has officially been ended,” Joburg Water spokesperson Nondumiso Mabuza said in a short statement.
“Employees agreed to return to their workstations and resume normal operations with immediate effect. Johannesburg Water wishes to apologise to residents, businesses, and all communities across the city for the inconvenience caused over the course of the strike.”
The strike coincided with Rand Water reducing supply to Johannesburg and Tshwane due to high water use, further straining the system.
This above normal consumption has exceeded allocated volumes and continues to place significant strain on the overall water supply network,” Rand Water said in a statement.
It added that the current demand is forcing the system to operate under pressure, stretching infrastructure capacity to accommodate the usage levels.
“Rand Water will be reducing water supply to these areas to restore water supply in affected areas and to stabilise the entire bulk water supply system.”
This has led to water outages and low water pressure across Johannesburg and Tshwane.
In December, the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg declared invalid a tender amounting to more than R200-million awarded to two companies to provide water tankers. The companies did not have their own trucks, and the court suspended the order for 150 days for the city to re-run the tender process.
The national government recently declared a state of disaster in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape due to drought. Water supply issues in many municipalities are exacerbated due to infrastructure decay.