The City of Tshwane says it has incurred an estimated R500 million loss in costs due to last week’s unprotected strike by its employees.
City Spokesperson Omogolo Taunyane says most of the costs stem from the disruption of services, as the City failed to collect most of its revenue.
Last week, hundreds of municipal workers affiliated to trade union, Samwu, brought many parts of the Pretoria CBD to a standstill as they demanded an 18% wage increase.
Taunyane says these losses are unrecoverable. “It’s a huge loss to the City and that is through the disruption of services. So, if the municipality finds itself in a position where it cannot perform its duties, it becomes a financial loss. Aspects of revenue collection that we could’ve done – and didn’t – it becomes a huge financial loss to the City. It’s an unrecoverable loss. We just have to move forward and see where we can move better,” says Taunyane.
