Cape Town: Since two months the workers from „MyCiTI“, an outsourced company by the city of Cape Town, are on strike. Still more than 200 workers are striking and other workers show their solidarity. Their demands are higher wages, better working conditions and not being employed by „outsourced companies“, but again by the city. They also demand to speak with the new mayor Don Plato. The company and union representatives call the strike „illegal“, so they provoked violence against the workers and want to brake the solidarity.
In November the striking workers occupied the civic centre of Cape Town. Police used stun grenades when more workers came to support the protests. Strikers outside of the civic centre threw stones at police in retaliation. The leaders of the protest were detained. Then the company fired 80 of the strikers, because the struggle would be „illegal“. At the meantime the company hired 60 new drivers to replace the striking workers.
The striking workers are not frightened: they continue the struggle. A representative of the workers said: „I won‘t mind dying for my children‘s future, because at the end of the day the business was meant to help people and now it‘s not happening. This business was established to help people, but now, this is not what‘s happening. That is what we are fighting for and then we will fight until the last drop of the blood.“ This week there was a protest march and police fired stun grenades to disperse about 200 strikers. Also one bus of „MyCiTi“ was set on fire in the last weeks, police doesn't know who it was.
The strike of the bus drivers is justified. They struggle not only for their demands, but also against strike breakers, who want to help breaking the stirike. It shows that neither city politicians, nor „MyCiTi“ company is supporting the justified demands, they call the strike „illegal“, because the workers are struggling relied on their own force.
