Twenty people were arrested on charges of public violence on Tuesday (23 August) at the municipal workshop in Louis Trichardt, in the latest development around SAMWU´s strike action. A Makhado municipal spokesperson indicated that internal disciplinary action will follow.

The arrests follow a scuffle which broke out between demonstrators and the police, after stones were thrown at the police who were on standby. The 20 were all released on R300 bail each and were due to appear in court at the time of going to press on Wednesday.

The scuffle on Tuesday afternoon at the municipal workshop at the junction of Burger and Vorster Street followed an earlier unauthorized protest march on Monday through the centre of the town, under police escort.

During Monday´s lunchtime demonstration, pedestrians in Louis Trichardt’s Songozwi Street expressed disbelief as SAMWU members once again overturned rubbish bins, but this time setting them alight. There was no effort on the part of the police to restrain or to arrest the culprits.

Bystanders wanted to know whether it was a lawful demonstration and if so, how the responsible authorities could allow a repeat performance of the unlawful conduct of strikers during last week’s march?

Local police spokesperson Capt Maano Sadike said upon enquiry : ”The police are instructed that any crime committed should immediately be acted on. This is currently the subject of further investigation, why an arrest was not made [on Monday].”

Sadike said that before any protest march, all the stakeholders (police, union leaders and municipal council) met to set out the relevant rules and preconditions for the public protest action. A standard part of these rules is that no littering, no damage to property and no fires are permitted.

The SAMWU protesters repeatedly transgressed all of these preconditions.

Makhado municipal spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi was requested to comment on the SAMWU strikers´ latest unlawful behaviour. He was asked whether official permission had been obtained from Council for the lunch-hour protest march in Songozwi Street on Monday, and if so, what precautions the council had taken to safeguard the basic rights of the rest of the taxpaying public of Louis Trichardt? He was also asked, given the well-documented lack of control during SAMWU strikes, why Council had failed to forestall the latest trashing exercise and what steps Council had taken to identify perpetrators?

Bobodi replied by saying: "We do not know of any lunch-hour protest. What we know is that there is a nationwide strike and we are monitoring the situation. The no-work-no-pay policy will apply to those who are not reporting for duty," he said.

Bobodi said the municipality had taken precautions to ensure that the premises were free from intimidation and were accessible to members of the community for essential services. Security guards provided by the municipality and members of the SAPS are present during and after working hours. He said prompt action would be taken against culprits involved in any violations of the public regulations or by-laws.

"Already some charges have been reported and laid at the police station against protestors who violated the conditions. Currently we are working very closely with the police to identify delinquent protestors and some charges are being instituted at the local SAPS. Internal disciplinary action will also be instituted as soon as the necessary evidence is collected. As the municipality, we have undertaken to see to it that everything is running normally to ensure that essential services are available," he said.