JOHANNESBURG - The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Wednesday said it has met with North West Premier Job Mokgoro over the non-payment of security guards contracted by the provincial government.
"This was a follow-up from the meeting held on the 5th July in Rustenburg where parties agreed that all workers must be paid by the 12th July 2019. All departments affected have agreed that they will make sure that they pay their service providers by the said date and that processes will be overseen by the provincial treasury," the union federation said in a statement.
Last week, Cosatu said it was concerned by a growing number of employers who were failing to pay worker salaries both in the private and public sector. With no payments to third parties such as medical aid, funeral policies and pension funds, workers benefits were left in arrears.
At least 30 municipalities were unable to pay salaries or did not pay on time. At one provincial department, it was found that security went without wages due to the department's failure to pay the contractor.
Cosatu said it was disappointed in the manner in which the provincial government entity, the North West Development Corporation (NWDC) handled the salaries issue.
"The NWDC has shown that they do not care about the welfare of their service providers and their employees by failing to pay them on time. Cosatu also believes that the contract between Tokiso and the NWDC has elements of corruption and therefore calls on the premier to institute a forensic investigation on the contract. We want urgent action should it be found that there were irregularities."