The protests were a reaction to the municipality's failure to pay over monies intended for their third-party beneficiaries and other matters, as OFM News had previously reported. This comes after OFM News learned that the municipality has obtained an interdict regarding its employees who are currently on strike, instructing them to return to work. The mining town has seen a month of protests at the troubled municipality where workers are calling for the mayor, Nkosenjani Speelman, to resign.

Secretary of the South African Municipal Worker's Union (Samwu) in Welkom, Welcome Makhobotloane, told OFM News that the union has advised its members and workers at the municipality to return to their workstations after they have convened at the main municipal building in the Welkom CBD for weeks. He also revealed that a case of fraud has been opened against the municipality and while he could not divulge more details, he confirmed that five cases would be brought against the municipality.

One of the matters he mentioned that will form part of these cases, is the municipality's failure to pay over the worker's installments for life and disability policies to the intended third-party beneficiaries despite the deductions for these from workers' salaries.

OFM News