Pretoria - Chaos broke out yesterday during a march led by the regional South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) outside Tshwane House against the non-payment of salary increases.
A group of workers clashed with police who tried to keep them from a stage set up for union leaders to address them. They convened in the morning at the Marabastad old bus depot before they departed to Tshwane House to air their grievances.
Workers said they were unhappy with regional leaders whom they accused of corruption following an audio recording implicating former union leaders of being in cahoots with the municipality to weaken Samwu’s activities in Pretoria.
City divisional head for labour relations management, Ronald Oppelt, and Nyiko Mahumani from Mahumani Incorporated, a law firm contracted to the municipality, were captured on the audio bragging about how the union lured its leaders with promotions and financial benefits to tame the union.
Samwu national deputy general secretary, Nkhetheni Muthavhi, who previously served as regional chairperson, was fingered as being part of the plot to weaken the union.
He was said to have benefited from the alleged strategy to manage the union through his appointment as a municipal director three years ago.
Gauteng Samwu provincial secretary Mpho Tladinyane, who was the regional secretary, was cited as allegedly benefiting through a law firm believed to be pocketing lucrative contracts from the city. Both leaders have flatly denied the allegations.
Workers refused to be addressed by a newly installed leadership under regional chairperson Ngwako Mathabatha, demanding that they leave the stage.
Marchers accused their leaders of being sell-outs, vowing not to listen to them because “they made empty promises to us”.
Others, who spoke anonymously, told Pretoria News that the union was divided because of the recent audio clip. In the morning, regional union secretary Precious Theledi told journalists that marchers were expecting mayor Cilliers Brink to accept their memorandum of demands.
This was, however, disputed by workers outside Tshwane House, who jeered at their leaders because they never wanted a memorandum to be handed over to managers.
Workers were adamant that they only wanted to be told about the deadline for paying them salary increases.
They expressed their dissatisfaction over the 0% wage and salary increase for 2023/24 passed by the council, among other issues.
After their leaders had left the march degenerated into chaos, with some workers forcing their way towards the stage. Angry workers threw empty bottles and cans at the police, who fired rubber bullets at them.
Theledi said: “We are here today to fight for what is due to us, which is the outstanding 3.5% salary increase and this year’s 5.4% increase. And to also raise issues regarding the performance management system that the City is implementing unilaterally.”
She said workers complained that the city was not providing the tools of the trade to them.
“We are also raising issues of the grading system within the metro police department whereby constables are graded differently,” she said.
Speaking to the provincial Samwu leaders inside Tshwane House, mayor Cilliers Brink said: “We are not being hostile. We simply need to look at the finances of the city.” He said the municipality’s finances were in a terrible state and that the City management would like to talk to organised labour to show them the financial problems facing the metro.
“In the meantime we would have to present a funding plan to the National Treasury because the budget of Tshwane is unfunded,” he said.
Brink said it was simply not feasible to pay R600 million extra towards salary increases, adding that the City respected the collective agreement but would apply to be exempted from it.
Pretoria News