The Msunduzi municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has vowed to pay all outstanding monies owed to its workforce by the end of June.
This is an assurance given by acting city manager Sabelo Hlela after meeting workers on Tuesday.
About 400 disgruntled employees disrupted operations at the municipality’s Havelock offices on Tuesday by staging a sit-in in protest.
Their complaints included delayed payments, the lack of tools, lack of changerooms, an unconducive working environment and frosty relations between some of the general workers and managers.
Those who were inside the municipality’s offices were unable to get out as protesters had dumped bags filled with rubbish outside the building’s entrances.
Hlela, the general manager of infrastructure, has been acting in this position after the suspension of city manager Lulamile Mapholoba on allegations of misconduct since February.
Hlela acknowledged the workers’ concerns and said management was engaging union representatives to deal with worker concerns. He also emphasised his commitment to resolving the issues swiftly and fairly, ensuring minimal disruption to essential services provided by the waste department.
Samwu regional secretary Linda Gcabashe welcomed the move. Gcabashe said there was a shortage of workers, which had been a well-documented challenge for a number of years.
“Instead of employing permanent staff, the municipality sources EPWP [Expanded Public Works Programme] workers as substitutes and our call as a union has often fallen on deaf ears. The staff complement is way less than half of what it should be,” said Gcabashe.
TimesLIVE
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