Contract workers demand permanent jobs from City of Joburg

More than 1 000 contract workers and fire reservists are demanding permanent jobs from the City of Joburg. Two groups of workers held separate protests at the Johannesburg Civic Centre demanding mayor Geoff Makhubo come and address them.

The first was a group of fire reservists who had been in the city’s service for as long as 10 years. Nthai Monnye, chairman of the Fire Professions Council of Southern Africa, said the group had been making attempts to get an audience with city officials since last year.

“The Labour Relations Act is very clear. It says if you use someone for more than a year, it means you need that person, so why don’t you employ them.”

Earlier this year, city manager Dr Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni met the group and apparently discussed the possibility of permanent employment, but there has been no follow-up to date. It was established that the city has 240 vacancies. This was before Emergency Management Services in Johannesburg fired 240 firefighters.

“The city has taken us from pillar to post for more than a year. The former mayor, Mr [Herman] Mashaba, failed to address the issues. The current city manager, Mr Lukhwareni, and his executive also failed to solve the issues.

“The last is the current mayor, Mr [Geoffrey] Makhubo, who promised listeners on Power FM to give us an ear. It is now more than eight months and he is failing to attend to it.”

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