Pretoria - The City of Tshwane will take action against workers who yesterday blocked streets in Centurion with litter, rubble and stones and set rubbish bins on fire, demanding salary increases.
It was left to residents and business people to roll up their sleeves and remove the mess. Others even attempted to fix traffic lights that had been vandalised.
The city last year decided not to implement salary hikes in terms of an agreement with unions and the SA Local Government Association. It cited financial constraints.
However, the workers took to the streets yesterday, accusing the City of taking the poor for granted. The demonstration, they said, was to send a message to the powers that be.
Acting city manager Mmaseabata Mutlaneng issued an ultimatum to the workers she associated with the SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu).
“Striking employees are reminded that the city has obtained a final Labour Court interdict that prohibits Samwu members from embarking on a strike regarding the issues that led to the court interdict.
“Employees are instructed to resume their duties with immediate effect. Any employee who defies this instruction, including the Labour Court order, and fails to report back to work by the latest by 3pm, will summarily be dismissed,” she said as the protest was ongoing.
Mutlaneng said all group heads and line managers were instructed to ensure that all employees who should have been on duty were at their workstations at that time, and employees who refused to comply with the instruction should be reported to Group Human Capital Management by no later than 4pm yesterday.
Consequence management actions would be instituted against any group head and line manager who failed to execute the instruction.
However, a leader who asked not to be named said: “The city is playing games with people’s lives, and the people making those decisions are not poor like us … we are failing to provide for our families, yet we wake up and go to work every day.”
Samwu regional chairperson Nkhetheni Muthavhi said: “We have not sanctioned a strike as Samwu; we were still respecting the process that was still in collective agreement. We wish to caution people against saying these are Samwu members.”
In a letter explaining the city's financial difficulties, executive mayor Randall Williams wrote: “The city’s declining financial situation also led to a downgrade by ratings institutions. The knock-on effect of this was that into our new financial year, the city could not access long-term loan funding. This means that we must fund the budget out of our operational revenue, which places tremendous strain on the budget.
“This is why last year already when we planned and approved the budget, it was voted in by council with zero provision for salary increases.
“Thus, it is strange now to hear political parties condemning the city’s exemption application when they were part of the council decision to approve the budget.
“Our intention is not to create unnecessary tension or conflict with city employees …”
Pretoria News