While the strike in the City of Tshwane has 'legally' ended, pockets of workers continue to protest and the municipality holds out on paying wage increases.

Tshwane's municipal strike, which led to the collapse of some service delivery functions, has "legally" come to an end, but the city is still grappling with pockets of employees that remain on strike.

The protracted strike affected not only service delivery, but also the city's ability to collect revenue, further crippling its financial position as it had already been battling to pay its creditors, including Eskom and Rand Water.

Workers affiliated with the South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) have been on strike since 26 July 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.

City management has maintained that it cannot afford a salary increase this year because its R45-billion-plus budget for the 2023/24 financial year was underfunded.

Now, two months after the strike began, there are fears that the city might face "total financial collapse" by March 2024 if it is not bailed out by the National Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

Cope councillor Ofentse Moalusi warned that the city's reserves were critically low and if no intervention was made, municipal workers would be the casualties.

"Unless both the...