The SA Municipal Workers Union will report Sol Plaatje Municipality to the Labour Court for contempt of a court order after eight security guards were apparently appointed without following recruitment and selection processes.
THE SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) will report Sol Plaatje Municipality to the Labour Court for contempt of a court order after eight security guards were apparently appointed without following recruitment and selection processes.
Samwu local chairperson Daily Semau stated that the Labour Court issued an order in 2021 instructing the municipality to hire 28 security guards and withdraw external advertisements.
“Four access control security guards were appointed at the Riverton water purification treatment plant and another four have been stationed at the Homevale wastewater treatment plant without following the correct procedures,” said Semau.
He also called for all EPWP workers to be permanently absorbed after six EPWP workers were relocated from the landfill site to the refuse department.
“They have been working there for over 10 years. There must be consistency – all workers must get the same treatment,” he said.
Semau was also aggrieved that three officials were apparently being paid for the manager position at the Riverton purification plant.
“Persons without the necessary skills and knowledge are being put into managerial positions, which is negatively affecting service delivery. The municipality keeps on claiming there is no money for essential services, yet it is paying car allowances to an amount of R3.7 million per month or R44 million per annum.”
He indicated that four out of a total of nine refuse trucks were broken, resulting in workers having to work overtime and on weekends in order to clear the backlog.
“The reduction in overtime pay to 30 hours per month is delaying response times, especially when burst pipes and electrical shortages need to be attended to after hours. We reject the offer of time off in lieu of overtime pay.”
Semau stated that they would restart the negotiation process to absorb 264 workers after another 605 contract workers were hired.
“We have given the municipality until the end of April to rectify these issues, failing which we will embark on mass action. We object to the hiring of external workers during strike action.”
Sol Plaatje Municipality had not responded to media enquiries at the time of publication.
