Midvaal mayor cries sabotage, blames Samwu and 'political opponents' for protests

Angry residents from Sicelo informal settlement in Midvaal, south of Johannesburg, took to the streets on Thursday and staged a violent protest, barricading the R59 highway in Meyerton and demanding houses, water and electricity.

They also insisted on being addressed by the mayor, Bongani Baloyi.

The violent stand-off between police and demonstrators left one person injured and several vehicles damaged. On Friday morning, residents resumed their protest.

Baloyi, in a detailed official response regarding the strike and protests, said the protests had resulted in an "unusual disorder and violence in our normally stable municipality".

"On 28 June, I issued a statement warning that it had come to my attention that there was a plot by our political opponents to destabilise the municipality. I was not yet informed as to the proposed details," Baloyi said.

Baloyi said Midvaal's employees had put forward a request that the entire municipality be re-graded to a higher category of municipality, a request which management fully supported.

He said workers began a "go-slow" strike because the grading system request did not find favour with Co-operative Governance Minister Des van Rooyen and the chief executive of the SA Local Government Association (Salga), Xolile George.

Baloyi said the municipality tried to resolve the workers strike by a way of signing a memorandum of understanding, but the municipality subsequently received a referral of dispute to the Salga's bargaining council.

"Samwu [then] arranged a march for its members, and also began daily picketing outside the municipal offices over and exceeding lunch times," Baloyi said, adding that Samwu accused the municipality of making discriminatory promotions for certain levels of employees.

Baloyi said Samwu members caused damage to municipal infrastructure during this strike, including electricity supply to Golf Park, Extension 6, Sicelo, Meyerton Park, water meters and other Council property in Meyerton, as well as water interruptions in Drumblade.

"They have damaged private property and threatened the lives and property of staff members and councillors," Baloyi said.

"It became clear that the opportune timing of Samwu in raising an issue from 2012 in 2016, and then including other, ever changing complaints, was a fulfilment of my warning statement.

Baloyi said according to a reliable source, a Samwu-ANC plot was underway to destabilise Midvaal by way of sabotaging service delivery and damaging public and private property in the run-up to the local government elections on August 3.

"They have interfered with service delivery in an attempt to destabilise the municipality so that residents become angry and to therefore encourage people to protest, holding us to ransom as the elections loom," Baloyi said.

"I called on the ANC to abandon the undemocratic plot, and to campaign with ideas and plans, rather than intimidation and violence."

Samwu and the ANC were not immediately available for comment.

Baloyi said the municipality was currently building a civil case against Samwu, on the basis that it followed all legal processes to prevent them from striking, and 10 employees who were arrested at the illegal march had been suspended pending an investigation.

Here is Baloyi's full statement: