MOKOPANE – Municipal workers downed tools on Friday as the benchmarking of salaries has still not been implemented.
Percy Nketsi, a representative of the municipal workers said they would return to work if the council meeting that was supposed to take place on Friday was reconvened, and the benchmarking was implemented.
“We wanted to engage with the mayor, Parks Sebatjane, but he rejected the offer, therefore services have now been placed on hold. Sebatjane should be held accountable for all damage during this ‘standstill’.”
The mayor a task team consisting of high level officials from the national department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, the provincial department of cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs, and the South African Local Government Association (Salga) have been established and they are attending to this issue of benchmarking.
“The proposed timeline for this matter to be finalised was to be at the end of this month, but due to this strike the timeline will now be affected. The task team is following the legal mandate and looking at what is best for the municipality, the community and the workers. The municipal workers want us to agree that their salary scale will be the same as that of Emalahleni Municipality, but it is not possible as we are not of the same size even though we are both marked as a grade 6 municipality.”
Sebatjane appealed to the workers to return to work as the matter was being attended to.
“By not working the municipality is not making any revenue and the tax payers who help to pay their salaries are suffering”
