Municipal workers sleep through a working day

NKOMAZI – Life’s a breeze! Or so it appears to be for ordinary municipal workers.

Long naps under a tree and free vehicles to roam with as you please, seem to be the perks of being employed by the municipality. Earlier this week Corridor Gazette visited Hectorspruit, where there was a working-man sign put up in the middle of the main road leading into the small town, but no working men or women were in sight.

Later a municipal vehicle arrived with three workers. One climbed off the bakkie, at which another appeared from the shade of a tree near the old post office. They met at the sign, sprayed water over the pothole, got back onto the vehicle and drove off, leaving the sign behind.

This is another example of poor water management in municipalities relating to an incident earlier this month when Malalane had no potable water. On Wednesday Corridor Gazette captured workers in Malalane enjoying a good rest on the back of a municipal vehicle.

Another two municipal workers were seen sitting near a field in Hectorspruit, with no actual intent on doing anything productive for the day. Reports from residents in Komatipoort are the same.

Last week spokesman for the Nkomazi municipality, Cyril Repinga, contacted Corridor Gazette in connection with workers allegedly sleeping the day away instead of doing what they were being paid for. He said, “Will you please investigate the matter of workers sleeping on the job in Hectorspruit. Maybe, if they see photos are being taken of them, they will realise the seriousness of the situation.” Corridor Gazette obliged and found that many service delivery shortcomings were due to this practice. A resident of Hectorspruit who wanted to remain anonymous, told the publication of the poor refuse removal service. “A municipal notice that was put up at Dup’s cafe said that refuse will be removed twice a week. Our refuse bags have been lying outside my house on the pavement for the past two weeks and have not been removed.” Repinga said, “We ask the community to please report workers who are loitering around while they should be working. Service delivery is deteriorating because of these people not doing their work, but we need proof to get them out. Our clean-up operation in this regard has been going well. A resident in Naas reported a municipal worker using a TLB to move his personal fridge and another worker who was selling water in the community. Both these employees were dismissed. If we continue to work together, we can stop these people from misusing their authority.” He added that proof was needed for action to be taken against the culprits.