Several Mogale City Local Municipality workers from the traffic department, the infrastructure department and the electrical department, all deemed to be essential services, have embarked on a go-slow after not receiving payment for the hours they have worked during the national lockdown.
The go-slow started on Friday, 22 May.
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Some of the other claims the municipal workers made are that they do not have proper personal protection equipment (PPE), and that management’s arrogant tendencies and disrespect of employees’ lives and safety during this trying time are very worrisome.
This morning, 25 May, workers took to the streets of Chamdor and Kagiso to show their disgust by burning tyres and refuse bins, putting many municipal services on hold.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng also weighed in on the matter, saying in a media statement that electrical faults reported by residents were not attended to, and employees had told residents that they were on a go-slow and that their problems would be attended to eventually.
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https://www.facebook.com/tyronegmichael/videos/10223712360421697
“Many wards across the City had service delivery interruptions over the weekend, particularly Wards 22, 18, 37 and 38. The refuse has not been collected in some of the wards. It is the responsibility of this municipality to ensure the safety of its workers by providing them with PPE, as gazetted in the Disaster Management Act. We will not allow this municipality to put the lives of the workers at risk by not safeguarding employees against the spread of this deadly coronavirus.”
The DA calls on the Gauteng Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) MEC, Lebogang Maile to intervene as a matter of urgency to ensure that this wage dispute is resolved, employees are provided with proper PPE and that service delivery resumes as a matter of urgency,” the statement by Mervyn Cirota, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Human Settlements and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs reads.
Mogale City’s communications department was approached for feedback, but none has been forthcoming.
