Municipal workers fear not being paid
2010-03-03 14:22
Pietermaritzburg - Workers of the Msunduzi Municipality, incorporating the city of Pietermaritzburg, on Wednesday said they feared they would not get their salaries at the end of the month.
They raised concerns after it emerged that the municipality’s coffers had dried up months before the end of the financial term.
"The greatest fear currently is where are the workers' salaries going to come from? Let alone the money necessary to sustain service delivery," said SA Municipal Workers Union Pietermaritzburg branch secretary Nokubonga Dinga.
Go slow
Municipal services came to a grinding halt on Wednesday when thousands of workers took to the streets to deliver a memorandum to the office of Cooperative Governance MEC Nomusa Dube.
Municipal services such as the collecting of garbage had been affected since workers went on a go slow last week.
Dinga said the union wanted managers to be arrested and the municipality’s executive committee to be disbanded because they had failed the people of Pietermaritzburg.
They also want the mayor, Zanele Hlatswayo, to be recalled by her party, the African National Congress (ANC).
Opposition parties such as Inkatha Freedom Party have also called for actions to be taken against the managers.
Dinga said she hoped the provincial government would make sure that workers received their salaries and to rescue the municipality from its financial doldrums.
Anger and resentment
"Today we witness the current state of the municipality with anger and resentment, which will undoubtedly cause an impasse which would be quite difficult to undo under these circumstances," she said.
It was unfortunate that the problems in the municipality had begun when the union was still celebrating the resounding victory of the ANC in most municipalities within the province, said Dinga.
"It is our view that a thorough investigation against responsible managers has to be conducted, with a view to institute disciplinary measures in the full extent of the law," Dinga said.
The union would monitor to see if justice was done because its members were always unfairly dismissed for minor misconduct, while workers at managerial level got away with serious allegations.
The municipality was not immediately available to comment.
- SAPA