It could get ugly
Disgruntled workers down tools to wreak havoc on Vryheid's infrastructure.
DISGRUNTLED municipal workers from the AbaQulusi Municipality in Vryheid have taken their strike action to the next level.
Throughout Vryheid, rubbish bins have been overturned, trash strewn across the streets, bins left in the roads, obstructing traffic.
The municipal building itself is a total shambles, littered with garbage, inside the building and at almost every entrance.
Sheets of water cover the floors, as taps have been opened by strikers and left running to flood the building.
Outside the building, strikers have gathered and stand in unison, chanting and singing, frustrated by the hierarchy’s alleged refusal to respond to their demands.
Although they have been threatened with police action and arrest, they maintain that their cause is a worthy one and they are being treated unfairly.
According to one of the disgruntled municipal workers who has downed tools to stand with the others who are striking, they have not yet received outstanding back pay from as far back as 2009.
This delay in payment, however, allegedly does not apply to all levels in the municipal ranks.
The Grade 4 councillors have already received their outstanding back pay, according to a source at the scene, as well as an alleged 14th cheque.
Grade 3 workers and below are still awaiting remuneration and there appears to be no end in sight for the strike action, until their demands are met, or at least discussed and negotiated by those whose responsibility it is to authorise these long overdue payments.
“All they have to do is sign the papers, but they refuse,” said one of the protestors.
Things look set to turn ugly, with threats of disrupting the electricity and water supply to the town of Vryheid.
Substations and reservoirs are on their list of targets, and with nobody on standby for the weekend, any problems that may arise will not be attended to.
The angry mob will continue today’s strike until this afternoon, at approximately 2:30pm.
Thereafter, they will continue on Monday again, wreaking havoc on the town and its infrastructure until their demands are met.
No response has been received from the municipality as yet, possibly because the building has been abandoned by non-striking workers.
