Striking municipal solid waste workers in Middelburg are refusing to return to work until the municipality signs a formal settlement agreement.

The workers are accusing management of deliberately creating a vehicle crisis to justify expensive private outsourcing.

Negotiations between the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) and the municipality, which began on Monday, are in a deadlock.

According to the municipal workers’ representative, Kgosi Makwati, the municipal management reportedly halted talks to discuss other matters and last night served SAMWU leadership with legal notices to interdict the protest.

“The main sticking point is the municipality’s recent introduction of manned, leased compactor trucks. The union views this as a hidden form of privatisation and a misuse of public funds,” said Makwati.

Makwati stated that the municipality is currently paying R900 000 per month to lease just two trucks.

“Four of the municipality’s own trucks are sitting broken down because the fleet department refuses to pay service providers for repairs, which is a move the union claims is a deliberate tactic to justify the costly private leases.”

The municipality has eight operational compactor trucks. Makwati said that if the outstanding repair bills were paid, that number would rise to 12.

“The union has highlighted a severe, decade-long lack of investment in municipal infrastructure, noting that the municipality has failed to purchase a single new waste truck in 10 years. The only modern vehicles in the current fleet were donated by mining company South32 around 2019,” he added.

According to the union, the shortage predates the current administration; however, a lease-to-buy strategy promised by the municipal manager during his inaugural address to workers in 2022 was never implemented.

“Additionally, the union raised concerns over inflated overtime claims and rejected procurement offers. The municipality claims that overtime costs for the solid waste department have reached R6m per month,” he said.

Makwati said the municipal workers offered to work two months of voluntary, unpaid overtime, suggesting the saved money be used to purchase three new trucks, but municipal management rejected the offer.

At the time of publishing, workers were outside municipal buildings, waiting for management to sign the settlement agreement.

Union leaders criticised the municipality’s decision to hire lawyers to interdict the strike rather than focusing on fixing the waste crisis.

“There is no money to buy trucks, but money for lawyers is readily available. This has been the employer’s attitude in every dispute.”

Ahead of Monday’s formal tools-down, workers had already initiated a go-slow, limiting productivity in the preceding days.