Labour issues impact water supply to residents

PROTEST action by security personnel impacted the water supply to the municipalities of Big 5 Hlabisa and Mtubatuba.

uMkhanyakude District Municipality announced on Tuesday that the unplanned interruption was caused by contracted security services staff who blocked access for operations.

These ‘labour-related issues’ affected Hluhluwe Phase 1 and 2, disrupting water supply to wards 1 to 8 under Big 5 Hlabisa and wards 20 to 23 in Mtubatuba.

Municipal manager (MM) Musa Nxumalo extended apologies to residents and businesses for the inconvenience.

He said the security personnel are not employed by the municipality, and so could not address municipal officials.

“They should go to the CCMA, but we have engaged the police to intervene because what they are doing is a crime,” said Nxumalo.

At the time of going to print, police had not confirmed whether a team had been deployed to the two affected sites.

According to reports, gripes raised include salaries and contracts, with workers wanting overtime shifts reinstated, as well as concerns about being relocated to work in faraway places, increasing monthly costs.

One Mr Mhlongo, who said he is the COO of the security company, said workers were advised to desist from engaging in an illegal strike. Instead, they were encouraged to follow the right channels, such as approaching the CCMA or bargaining council.

On Wednesday, he said the issues were 'nothing major' but just about overtime, which he said has been done away with, and added the two sites were now fully operational.

The municipality on Wednesday confirmed that the sites were fully operational as of Tuesday.