Mayor Cilliers Brink says the City of Tshwane aims to clear the service delivery backlog after finding some common ground with unions who fought a protracted battle for wage increases.

The cash-strapped City of Tshwane is working on a catch-up programme to restore critical service delivery functions which had come to a halt as a result of a four-month municipal strike which has now come to an end.

On 26 July, thousands of municipal workers downed tools demanding a 5.4% increase, the last phase of a three-year wage agreement signed at the South African Local Government Bargaining Council in 2021.

To honour the agreement, the city needs R600-million, which it has said it cannot afford as it is also battling to pay its creditors, including Eskom and Rand Water.

The strike led to the collapse of services including waste collection, attending to electricity and water outages, and fixing leaks, potholes and streetlights. It turned violent and 255 vehicles belonging to the city were torched.

The strike also affected the city's ability to collect revenue, further crippling its financial position.

In September, the city unsuccessfully applied to be exempt from paying municipal workers' salary increases to more than 29,000 employees for the 2022/23 financial year.

On Monday, 13 November, Executive Mayor Cilliers Brink said, "The strike is largely over in the capital city. Of course, there might still be isolated instances...