Durban -The Ray Nkonyeni Municipality on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast has been impacted for months by an employees strike that has paralysed the municipality.
KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi is set to meet with the disgruntled parties on Friday to try and resolve the impasse.
“This meeting follows a protracted labour unrest that has significantly impacted the operations of the municipality. Buthelezi aims to bring stability back to the municipality through direct engagement with all stakeholders. The goal is to ensure that all parties involved can find common ground and work towards a harmonious resolution,” the department said in a statement.
Explaining the source of the dispute, a union member, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said there was an award at the bargaining council that dealt with on the payment scale of the workers which was complex.
The union member said the municipality failed to implement the payment scale but also did not take it on review leading to the impasse as the workers expected that there would be some action on it.
The municipality stated in a media release last month that the unrest has been ongoing since October last year.
“This has been a difficult time in which everyone has had to endure the indignity of inconsistent refuse collection and general littering, causing an environmental and health risk to all communities. Furthermore, the deliberate disruption of power supply has had a significant negative impact on businesses and residents.
“The illegal strike action is the consequence of a dispute between Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, the employer, and its employees. Regrettably, a labour relations issue has now negatively impacted communities, which is unacceptable. The matter between the two parties is currently before the courts, but engagements between the employer and organised labour to explore possible solutions continue,” it said.
Due to the illegal nature of the strike, the statement continued, the municipality was denied the opportunity to define essential services, as would be the case in a legal strike.
“This has resulted in services that should not be severely disturbed by a strike being affected. Apart from the illegal strike's undue impact on essential services, there is evidence of sabotage of municipal infrastructure, leading to further negative impacts on service delivery.
“Ray Nkonyeni Municipality expresses its profound appreciation to community organisations that have mobilised communities and volunteered their services to mitigate the impact of the strike. We encourage communities to continue working with us to alleviate the damaging effects of the illegal and unauthorised strike action. We further appeal to the employees to allow due processes to be followed to conclusion, without resorting to illegal conduct,” it concluded.