Lesufi apologises to Joburg residents as municipal strike cripples services | News24

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi addressed the media on Sunday morning.

• A strike by the South African Municipal Workers’ Union brought Johannesburg’s water, electricity, and waste services to a halt, prompting Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to issue an apology.
• He said negotiations between Samwu the City of Johannesburg, and the provincial government are nearing resolution, with hopes of restoring services soon.
• Samwu defends the strike, citing unmet demands for fair wages and the implementation of the 2016 Politically Facilitated Agreement.
• For more election news, visit News24 Politics.

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Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has apologised to Johannesburg residents, many of whom have been without water and electricity for days while also grappling with uncollected refuse piling up across the city.

Lesufi attributed the deterioration in service delivery to an ongoing strike by members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), but said negotiations involving the union, the City of Johannesburg and the provincial government were at an advanced stage and could soon bring the impasse to an end.

The premier was speaking on Sunday during a media briefing on provincial interventions to combat gender-based violence and femicide.

He said the strike had undermined several government interventions and severely disrupted basic municipal services, particularly in Johannesburg.

The industrial action has resulted in refuse remaining uncollected in many areas, delayed grass-cutting operations and disruptions to water and electricity services across the city.

Frustrated residents have vented their anger on the social media platform X, repeatedly tagging Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero to complain about prolonged outages and mounting waste.

Some residents say they have been without both water and electricity, and others report going as long as 10 days without water. In areas such as Hillbrow and Berea, residents have claimed they have been without running water for up to three weeks.

The crisis has triggered protests in some communities, with residents taking to the streets to demand the restoration of services. The unrest comes as political parties intensify campaigning ahead of what is expected to be a fiercely contested local government election in Johannesburg, where 75 parties are vying for power.

READ | Gauteng’s coalition headache: ANC divided over who to work with after Wednesday’s vote

Lesufi said the provincial government had deployed Gauteng Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Jacob Mamabolo to engage both the city and Samwu to resolve the dispute.

“We are pleased that these discussions are about to be concluded and the union has committed to recover the lost ground and go back and fix the areas that need to be attended to. We remain hopeful that the groundbreaking agreement will be signed in the next few hours so that we conclude this chapter and allow the workers to collect outstanding waste and also assist us to ensure that water and electricity flow in the City of Johannesburg,” said Lesufi.

He added:

However, Samwu has defended the strike and insisted that workers’ grievances are legitimate.

In a statement issued on Friday, Samwu general-secretary Dumisani Magagula said the union’s national leadership stood firmly behind its members in Johannesburg.

Magagula described the industrial action as legitimate and warned against efforts to intimidate workers.

“Samwu will defend municipal workers against any attempt to silence or intimidate them,” he said.

He said the dispute was rooted in workers’ long-standing demands for fair wages and dignity, particularly the implementation of the Politically Facilitated Agreement (PFA).

“At the heart of this struggle is the demand for the implementation of the Politically Facilitated Agreement (PFA). The PFA, rooted in a 2016 CCMA-facilitated agreement, was designed to address income disparities across CoJ’s entities. The City has failed to implement it. This failure stems from poor leadership and mismanagement.

“Workers’ trust has been betrayed. Confidence in the City’s ability to govern has collapsed. Samwu insists the PFA must be implemented immediately. It is both a contractual obligation and a moral imperative,” said Magagula.

The dispute has become a test of the City’s ability to maintain basic services while addressing long-running labour grievances, with residents bearing the brunt of a standoff that has left parts of Johannesburg without water, electricity and regular waste collection.