DSW strike leaves eThekwini trashed

Street left eThekwini infrastructure damaged, as police try to clear the road.

Keroshan govender

Durban Solid Waste (DSW) has engaged in a strike over wage increases and have taken to the streets of Durban to voice their frustrations, presenting eThekwini Municipality with an ultimatum that if their demands are not met, they will continue to disrupt service delivery.DSW is the cleansing and solid waste unit of the eThekwini Municipality, and one of its primary functions is the disposal of domestic refuse which is collected and transported to one of the many DSW landfill sites located throughout Durban.

However, the strike has left the region littered with uncollected refuse bags, with entire walkways covered in torn bags, their contents spilling out onto the streets and surrounding areas, which has become an issue for citizens and homeowners. “We didn’t even know that there was a strike. I woke up early and left all my bins out on the sidewalk and towards lunch I received a notification on our WhatsApp community group chat in which the municipality is urging residents to take their bin bags back into their property because DSW is striking, but by then it was too late because the bags had already been torn open by dogs and the homeless, it’s frustrating now because the entire road smells terrible and there’s garbage everywhere you look”, said an aggrieved resident when asked about their opinion of the strike.

eThekwini has also reported that state infrastructure has been damaged during the protests, with protesters having set electrical boxes on fire, and having broken water pipes and pumps. This has put further strain on residents who are already reeling from a lack of service delivery since 2022, with numerous areas within Durban reporting power and water outages that have gone on for several days.

In an interview with South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), it has been stated that the purpose of the strike is to bring to light the wage differences between DSW workers in eThekwini and Johannesburg’s municipality Ekurhuleni, of which are being paid higher rates, with DSW employees demanding that they should receive remuneration equal to what the other metros are paying their employees.

However, the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has denied this claim and has stated that the wage differences were based on false information, as the other metros have not implemented a wage structure due to the system still being under negotiation. The eThekwini Municipality has issued an ultimatum to all DSW employees that if they do not return to work, they will no longer be employed with the municipality. 16 striking workers have been detained, and a further 20 have been suspended in connection with the strike, which the municipality has deemed “unlawful” and “anarchic”.