Nelson Mandela Bay mayor, Nqaba Bhanga, has urged residents
to be vigilant and report any suspected sabotage to the supply of municipal
basic services.
This comes after municipal employees that participated in an
industrial strike for the past few days, allegedly tampered with the supply of
water and electricity.
“There are people that are closing our water valves
throughout the City, we have seen this in Despatch. We can’t accept this. This
is a criminal act,” Bhanga said yesterday.
“I want the residents to take pictures and videos of these
people, including registration numbers of cars involved in these incidents,
because we must be decisive with every individual sabotaging the residents. Our
residents have done nothing; therefore, you can’t cut off their electricity and
water supply. It is irresponsible and a criminal act,” Bhanga explained.
He made a call to all residents of Nelson Mandela Bay to be
on high alert and on the lookout for a group of people, allegedly stemming from
the municipal strikers, that are shutting down the water and electricity
systems to cause chaos in the metro.
“The worst part about this is, judging by the calls and
complaints that we have received, we have people that need oxygen but now they don’t
have electricity. This action of sabotage of our electricity system is
affecting many of our people that need that electricity for oxygen to sustain
their health. This is irresponsible. This is a crime,” he emphasised.
The mayor has called on all municipal employees to return to
work on Monday and for some to return to the negotiation table to put an end to
the ongoing strike. “We are not going to accept that. That’s why we went to
court today (Friday) to make sure that there is a court interdict and the
principle of no work, no pay, should be applied and enforced,” Bhanga said.
“We want our workers to go to work on Monday to make sure
that they deliver services.”
Issued by the Nelson Mandela Bay Communications Office
