Who is to blame for axing of KZN municipal workers?

Cosatu KwaZulu-Natal secretary Edwin Mkhize has vowed to stage sit-ins at Cogta offices to force the reinstatement of dismissed workers. Picture: File

Cosatu KwaZulu-Natal secretary Edwin Mkhize has vowed to stage sit-ins at Cogta offices to force the reinstatement of dismissed workers. Picture: File

Published Jul 21, 2022

Share

Durban – With a day to go to the much-anticipated ANC elective conference in KwaZulu-Natal, the Tripartite Alliance have lashed out at the party leadership for failing to resolve the issue of municipal workers who were dismissed in Newcastle and Ugu municipalities.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) joined by the South African Municipal Workers Union vowed on Wednesday to fight to the bitter end for the reinstatement of workers. The alliance partners blamed the ANC-led government for the plight of workers.

“On the untenable situation of workers who were dismissed in numbers in Newcastle and Ugu municipalities by the ANC-led government, all the three parties were resolute that decisive action must be taken to address their plight,” they said.

About 200 employees were fired in Newcastle in 2019 after storming a council meeting and demanding to be paid for overtime. The then Newcastle mayor, Ntuthuko Mahlaba, was seen fleeing, shielded by bodyguards. At that time the municipality was under the ANC. Samwu is affiliated to Cosatu.

In the Ugu municipality on the KZN South Coast, 136 Samwu employees were dismissed after they were found guilty of misconduct by the municipality in 2020. Again the Tripartite Alliance partners blamed the ANC and the ANC-led provincial government under Premier Sihle Zikalala.

The alliance warned the government and the ANC of mass action against the dismissals.

The alliance also said it would organise pickets, marches and further consider the sit-ins at Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs offices if the matter was not resolved. The alliance, which stopped short of calling for a change of leadership, said it was pinning its hope on the new leadership that would be elected at the ANC provincial conference in Durban this weekend.

Daily News