Man shot during Tshwane strike relives his ordeal

City of Tshwane employee Rendani Mabala, who spent 13 days in hospital after he was shot and injured after he went to work during an illegal strike, says the ordeal has had negative consequences on his health and finances.

Mabala, a married father of four – twins aged nine months and daughters who are three and six – said he is struggling to walk after he was shot twice on the hip and buttocks after returning from work last month.

Mabala, 44, who works as a plumber for the city, was in hospital from September 12 until 25, following the shooting.

“I am also traumatised and living in fear. Whenever I see a car parked outside my yard, I start thinking that the people who had attacked me have returned to finish me off, ” he told Sowetan on Wednesday.

He was attacked amid an illegal strike by municipal workers following a council resolution not to pay workers a wage increase. The strike started in July.

Mabala said the process leading to up the attack began while he was fixing a leaking pipe at a suburb situated northeast of Pretoria.

“I was in Montana, repairing a water leak, and a group of about four people in a blue VW Polo, who drove up to me and asked why I was working while other employees were on strike. I didn’t pay any attention to them,” he recalled. 

“When I was on my way home after knocking off, I noticed that the same car which I had seen earlier, was driving behind me. I called my boss and notified him. When I approached a set of traffic lights in Mamelodi, I indicated right and the car following behind me did the same.

“Instead of turning at the traffic lights I drove straight ahead and the car also didn’t turn but continued to follow me. This is when I decided to go to my uncle’s house as he stays on a busy street.”

After spending a few minutes inside his uncle’s house, Mabala said he went to check where his pursuers were.

“It was already dark outside and streetlights weren’t working. Three of the men who had been following came running towards me, carrying guns. I tried to check if I knew any of them but they were strangers.

“They took my cellphone and keys and fired two shots at me. One hitting me in the hip and another in the buttocks. I initially thought they were using toy guns but later realised they had discharged real guns,” said Mabala.

After attacking Mabala, the suspects drove away with his car, which was later found abandoned in the neighbourhood partially damaged.

He said the shooting has had a knock on his finances as he was now unable to earn overtime income and stand-by allowance due to being on sick leave.

“I am currently losing out on about R30,000 overtime and stand-by income and this has affected me big time as my children are still young. I also have goats and I am unable to look after them in my current state and some have already died.”

The strike is ongoing and the city has fired more than 120 SA Municipal Workers’ Union members.

ActionSA’s Michael Beaumont said the Tshwane multiparty coalition, which comprises the DA, FF Plus, IFP and ACDP, was scheduled to meet late on Wednesday to discuss the impasse.

“[The] meeting is a continuation of the meeting last Wednesday and relates entirely to the labour unrest in the City of Tshwane.

“ActionSA has brought this issue to the coalition national structures because there has been little progress in ending the strike. Prior to the meeting last week, the position of the mayor [Cilliers Brink] was to rely on the Labour Appeals Court to solve the issue years from now.

“ActionSA has insisted that government must take matters into its own hands and negotiate a deal that is affordable and gets service delivery back on track,” said Beaumont.

Brink’s spokesperson Sipho Stuurman had not responded to questions at the time of going to print.

sibanyonim@sowetan.co.za