Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - Members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) within the Mpumalanga tourism sector downed tools this week, preventing tourists from accessing a total of 21 nature reserves in the province.
The workers are employed by the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency, responsible for tourism products and facilities that belong to the provincial government.
Agency spokesperson Kholofelo Nkambule confirmed the impasse was over salary increments, similar to industrial action taken in 2019.
“All our tourism patrons and stakeholders that are staff are picketing at all its offices and nature reserves throughout the province.
“This will affect operations at all our offices and nature reserves, while management is in discussions with the leadership of Nehawu to resolve the dispute over the salary increments for the 2022/2023 financial year,” she said.
The agency’s acting CEO, Mduduzi Vilakazi, apologised for the inconvenience from the strike.
“We would like to apologise to our patrons and stakeholders for the inconvenience caused by this. We are confident that this matter will be resolved amicably in due course, and our offices and nature reserves will then be open for the public.”
Vilakazi said both parties would continue to engage to reach a consensus in the hopes of resuming operations.
“We will continue to provide updates on developments, as the reopening of our nature reserves is our priority as it will afford tourists an opportunity to continue with their planned trips to explore our various tourism attractions in the province.
“In the meantime, we would like to encourage visitors coming to Mpumalanga to enjoy their stay and explore other areas on offer in the province,” said Vilakazi.
Nehawu provincial secretary Welcome Mnisi confirmed the strike was ongoing but did not respond to questions about the demands of the workers or when they were planning to end the picket.
Last year, Nehawu members embarked on a similar strike following a dispute over the placement of employees into a new organogram, particularly employees acting in manager positions.
The union also demanded the filling of advertised senior management positions be halted in favour of the placements.
Pretoria News