eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda says it will take at least two weeks to restore service delivery after the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) strike.
Briefing the media, Kaunda says Samwu issued a memorandum to its members on Monday, directing them to return to work.
The strike has crippled the city, affecting water, electricity and refuse collection.
This has led to widespread protests.
Kaunda says over 300 volunteers will clean up the city which is littered with mounds of garbage.
“We are also looking at involving communities themselves, where we recruit communities to say a period of a year or two years you are going to collect refuse and this how we will pay you to become an employee of the municipality.”
“We are also working with UIPs in keeping the city clean and restoring law and order. We want to close the strike so [that] we open a new chapter to install a chapter of high level of discipline,” adds Kaunda.
The video below is reporting more on the story
Kaunda says 81 employees are on precautionary suspension for misconduct, over 1 800 employees have been given notices of misconduct.
A further 88 employees have been dismissed.
He also confirmed the death of a supervisor at the cemetery and crematoria department in Umlazi at the weekend, attributing it to violent acts of criminality.
Despite Kaunda’s assurance that Samwu is back negotiating, community protests continue across the city.
Video: eThekwini Municipality workers continue to down tools
