VIDEO: KwaDukuza marches after Ballito man reportedly slapped an official
KDM staff member Sharon Pitt was reportedly slapped, grabbed by her shirt and lifted off the ground.
Municipal workers brought traffic in Ballito to a standstill today after a female employee was reportedly slapped by a resident over his electricity bill last week.
About 300 KwaDukuza municipality staff marched, danced and sang their way from Sandra Road to central Ballito from 11.30am to 2pm in protest against the abuse of municipal workers.
Traffic came to a halt for half an hour as municipal workers blocked the entrance to the Lifestyle Centre at the intersection by Shell garage on the P445, handing over a memorandum to the SAPS appealing for them to take action against residents who abuse municipal staff.
KDM workers have stopped traffic at the Lifestyle intersection @nccourier pic.twitter.com/Y6ZXKRnIud
— Erica Abrahams (@eri_abrahams) November 4, 2016
The march came in response to the physical assault of KDM staff member Sharon Pitt.
According to deputy KwaDukuza mayor Dolly Govender, Pitt was assaulted at the municipal office in Salt Rock last week by a Ballito resident.
Pitt, who is in her late 50s, was slapped, grabbed by her shirt and lifted off the ground.
They apparently had a dispute over a resident’s electricity bill.
She was apparently admitted into hospital after the incident.
The march was proposed by KwaDukuza mayor Ricardo Mthembu after Pitt’s assault.
Watch: journalist Erica Abrahams speaks to deputy KwaDukuza mayor Dolly Govender during the march:
Govender said the municipality will not accept abuse or disrespect against their workers.
“In a month where 16 days of activism against woman and children abuse starts our staff member was assaulted. Not only does this show disrespect to municipal workers but to women also.”
“People need to give staff the opportunity to attend to their issues and not resort to violence,” said Govender.
While some support has been forthcoming for the march on The Courier’s facebook page, other comments expressed frustration over issues such as poor service delivery and bad roads – and some even seemed to think it was a joke.
Watch: striking municipal workers have a verbal altercation with an irate road user on Friday:
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