These workers now face the possibility of being dismissed as they were allegedly appointed by the previous municipal council. The challenge faced by the current council is now that the salary bill pertaining to these workers is too high as salaries were not adjusted from fixed term to permanent salary scales. Speaking to OFM News, the union’s provincial secretary, Vincent Diphoko said that the municipality has taken the matter to the labour court, stating that these appointments were in fact illegal appointments. Diphoko said Samwu now awaits for a date from the labour court and will contest the municipality’s application to dismiss these workers.

Diphoko told OFM News that the union will also be looking at ways to challenge the municipality’s labour court opposition to the appointments of the 32 workers in question. He said from this number 32, only 18 are in fact Samwu members, however, and others in the number either belonged to other unions or none. Regardless of this, Diphoko said the union was fighting for all the workers and said the country could not afford any more people to be unemployed. He insists that the municipality should rather be engaging with the affected unions on how the matter can best be rectified rather than dismissing the workers.

Meanwhile, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the North West has called on higher bodies such as the municipality’s mayor as well as the ANC’s Provincial Task Team (PTT) to intervene on the matter. Cosatu has in a statement it issued on Thursday, that unless this happens, it will mobilise a massive strike action. 

Circumstances surrounding the alleged pending dismissals are at this point unknown to OFM News as the spokesperson for the municipality, Shallot Setlhaku, could not be reached for comment despite several attempts by OFM News.

OFM News