Workers to help clean metro
Resolution taken during Orient Theatre meeting held on Friday
Municipal workers from all departments will help their colleagues in the community services department clean up Buffalo City Metro next week.
This comes after the three-week-long violent strike ended on Friday, leaving the King William’s Town and East London central business districts in a filthy state while thousands of residents were left with no water and electricity for days.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch on Friday, South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) regional secretary Zolani Ndlela said: “As the workers we have agreed that next week we will take some time, even if it’s two days, to help with the situation. We don’t want the municipality to resort to paying external services when we can help. We will request just to be given two days to help.”
The resolution was taken during a meeting at the Orient Theatre in East London on Friday .
On Thursday the union and BCM bosses reached a deal that a tax exemption should be requested by BCM from the SA Revenue Services in order to ensure that 5,100 employees get paid the entire “apology” R10,000 offered to them to end the strike.
Ndlela said although the agreement remained unsigned pending the tax exemption approval from Sars, workers were back at work on Friday.
On Friday city manager Andile Sihlahla told the Dispatch that the no-work, no-pay rule would be applied for those who took part in the violent strike. “The money won’t be deducted all at once, it will be done over a period of months. Further discussions will take place between the management and unions regarding the implementation of the no-work, no-pay rule but our position is clear the rule will apply,” said Sihlahla.
In a statement on Friday, DA MP Kevin Mileham said the party would table a motion of no-confidence in mayor Xola Pakati for his “failure to demonstrate political leadership” during the strike. “It is time for mayor Pakati to go,” said Mileham.
He said Sihlahla must also be held accountable. “His failure to implement agreedupon resolutions on various labour issues precipitated this strike. The DA will today table a motion calling for a comprehensive investigation into his conduct and his role in incurring in excess of R200-million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure by not dealing with labour issues timeously.”
The party said Samwu should be held liable for all the damage caused during the strike, “whether by Samwu members or not”.
In response Samwu attacked the party and the media, saying “there are people wanting to destroy us”.
“The DA will never love us as black people because they are racist,” said Ndlela.
‘The DA will never love us as black people because they are racist’ – Samwu regional secretary Zolani Ndlela