Crime hot spot volunteer team want the City to pay stipends
NEIGHBOURHOOD Watch members from parts of Khayelitsha who were part of a crime hot spot project that ended last year are demanding payment from the City.
Almost a year after the Mayoral Citizen’s Project ended, more than 40 volunteers from the area have yet to be paid their outstanding stipends.
The members who gathered outside the City’s offices are accusing the mayor’s office of dismissing their grievances and referring them to other departments within the City.
About 42 of them were allegedly not paid in full for the two months’ work, while five were not paid at all, with only two being paid.
One of the members, Lebu Bhele, said that the NHW members were recruited between July and December last year to take charge of the hot spots which were identified by the police stations.
Bhele said when they were recruited they were already conducting these patrols and continued despite the project’s end.
However, she said their problems started when the members were paid various amounts despite working the same hours.
Numerous trips to the City proved futile and they were seemingly made to feel as if demanding their monies was a wild goose chase, she said.
“The first payment was made on November 29 but we started in April and served a probation period, expecting to sign our contracts in July.
“However, these were signed in late September.
“While the reason for the probation was questionable, as we had been doing this work for a while, what bothers us is the City promising the people money and then not being able to follow through with that promise,” she said.
Bhele said the group, which mostly comprised women, sacrificed their time and risked lives in a bid to foster safety in their communities.
Another member, Akhona Ndesi, said while their stipends were not taxed and were also not contributing to the UIF, this she said was used as an excuse by the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) to block them from accessing the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant.
The City said the project was a short-term initiative under the previous administration and came to an end in December 2021.
It said the current stakeholder team had engaged the group to reiterate that legislative and auditing processes dictated that contracts are signed by those enrolled in the project to enable payment to be made.