Charges of assault, malicious vandalism and daily inhumane intimidation at the Endumeni Municipality have surfaced, but who was to blame?
Definitely not the employees, according to Mr TW Ndlela from the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU).
“Employees are used as scapegoats in the attempt to transfer blame and focus from top management to their subordinates, even though they have no association with council meetings or statuary decisions.”
Mr Ndlela expressed his deepest concern over the unfairness of this matter, after which SAMWU took a stand against this, and in so doing also dismissed allegations of Mr Brijraj’s alleged assault by municipal workers.
His comments followed on from what Speaker Sduduzo Mdluli said in an interview with the Courier, in which he said that he believed that municipal employees who allegedly assaulted Mr Brijraj should be disciplined.
In a statement to the Courier, SAMWU attributed ongoing conflict and disagreement within the Endumeni Municipality to Council.
He felt that this is due to the fact that ongoing conflict has plagued the municipality for over two years, and very little has been done to deal with the backlog of service delivery.
SAMWU believed Council’s accountability should be raised, for it is these decisions that have led to intra-organisational conflict, which impacted on administration.
According to Mr Ndlela, “Council currently does not have a central point of authority, which results in conflicting decisions and an inevitable negative impact on administration.”
SAMWU also vehemently disagreed with any plans of putting the troubled municipality under administration of any kind, because it is not feasible due to financial constraints.
“Lastly, SAMWU would like to make an appeal to all parties concerned to act in the code of professionalism and ethics in the interest of the community, rather than carry on the plague of infighting, in order to allow social upliftment and development.”