Illegal metro police protest sparks major traffic disruption as City seeks urgent resolution strategy

19 Mar 2025

Following a surprise protest by the members of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday morning, leading to major traffic disruptions, the City is engaging its aggrieved officers who have warned of potential future protests.

Following an illegal strike by Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) members on Wednesday, 19 March 2025, City of Ekurhuleni Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for finance, Jongizizwe Dlabathi, said the committee was taking charge of the dispute, moving the issue beyond the department of community safety.

“We want to then establish a better process of engaging, meaning that there will be a team from the mayoral committee that is going to lead with the delegation of the aggrieved officers and the labour union so that we assist with the discussions,” Nhabathi said on Wednesday.

EMPD members used their official vehicles to block major roads over their salary dispute. The City said their protest action was illegal. Under normal circumstances, the EMPD would respond to illegal protest action.

The protest brought traffic to a standstill in multiple areas of the municipality, heavily affecting the R24 westbound between the OR Tambo and Electron Interchanges. The N3 northbound between Heidelberg and Elands was gridlocked. The congestion on the major routes had largely cleared by the time of writing.

Overtime demands

In a 26 February 2025 memorandum of demands addressed to the head of the community safety department and EMPD chief, EMPD employees listed nine key demands they want to be addressed.

Their key demand is related to overtime. They said previously officers worked 60 to 80 hours overtime a month, but this had been reduced to a maximum of 16 hours “which will severely impact their financial stability and overall morale. This drastic reduction will place officers below the standard living scale and erode their financial security, affecting their families and wellbeing.”

They said their previous overtime benefits should be incorporated into EMPD officers’ basic salaries. They also claimed top EMPD officers recently received a salary boost, while those on the ground, facing greater risks, did not receive a similar increase.

City spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said: “These reductions form part of the City’s broader financial sustainability strategy aimed at ensuring responsible fiscal management and efficient service delivery.”

He added: “We strongly condemn this unlawful protest action, as it compromises public safety and disrupts the daily commute of thousands of residents and visitors.”

Dlabathi said the City would interrogate the nature of the issues that could have led to the protest. After that, the mayoral committee would formulate a response that would be given in the form of feedback in a meeting.

“What we pleaded was that there must be better management of the challenges that face any of us in the institution,” Dlabathi said.

He emphasised that matters of community safety were essential to the City of Ekurhuleni.

“We are optimistic that after the agreed process we will be in a position to respond issue by issue. In essence, we have agreed to that process, and let’s allow that process to unfold. We are now taking over as the mayoral committee. A departmental response was communicated with the workers by the chief of police.”

One of the EMPD members involved in the strike who was part of the delegation that met City officials on Wednesday told Daily Maverick that they had agreed to hold a meeting with municipal officials on Thursday.

“If they can’t resolve our issues, we are coming back again on 27 March to disrupt their State of the City address,” said the EMPD member, who asked to remain anonymous.

“Traffic is now flowing as usual. We went back to work,” he added.

EFF support

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which governs Ekurhuleni in a coalition with the ANC, put its weight behind the striking EMPD members, arguing that they had been ignored.

“It is important to note that before engaging in this demonstration, EMPD officers and labour unions repeatedly engaged the department, including the Member of the Mayoral Committee and the office of the executive mayor. However, these officials have collectively failed to adequately address the legitimate concerns of the law enforcement personnel,” the party said on Wednesday.

It blamed the decline of the EMPD on managerial incompetence, neglect and corruption. The EFF further called for the removal of Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Safety, Sizakele Masuku, claiming she had failed the law enforcement personnel. DM

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Overtime demands

EFF support