Editor – Many rumours have tickled my ears this past week regarding the current protest action.
They include that the Grant received from Treasury for the amalgamation of Indaka and Emnambiti municipalities has not been equitably shared and filtered down to the workers; and/or the Executive Managers have received a pay increase as the municipality has been upgraded from a Level 4 to a Level 5 but no one else has, etc, etc.
Councillors are tasked with being the bridge between the municipality and the community, with the Municipal Manager (MM) being the Point of Contact for councillors.
Councillors are expressly forbidden from being in direct contact with any municipal department.
ALL correspondence has to be channelled to the MM.
The MM has not seen fit to issue any official statement to the community on the municipal workers’ protest action and the associated destruction of property.
This has resulted in municipal councillors being as ignorant as the community about what is going on. It is the municipality’s own employees who are protesting and trashing the town. Ladysmith is filthy!
South Africans have a constitutional right to protest, but may not block roads and cause damage to the economy, impacting the poorest the most.
I have written to the Municipal Manager to request details of the reasons for the strike, as well as what action has and is to be taken to ensure that the trashing of the town stops and that those responsible for trashing the town and damaging property are arrested and charged.
It is a failure of the ANC to control the situation.
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