Electricians in Standerton protested about salary increases on Monday, 3 August, went on strike the following day and power supply was interrupted at about 6.40pm in mid-town.
The Standerton Advertiser was alerted to their strike by a missed call on Tuesday, 4 August and went to investigate.
Workers from the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) began their siege in town by burning tyres in front of the municipal building in Mbonani Mayisela Street.
Also see more photos here: [GALLERY] Protesters in Standerton on the rampage
The DA’s PR councillor, Ms Sithi Silosini, indicated on a WhatsApp-group that substations were not properly managed according to the load reduction schedule.
Ms Silosini also said Eskom will only help the municipality the following day as indicated in a letter.
The newspaper obtained a copy of the memorandum of demands from the workers, where carton placards of discontent were put on the fence of the municipal offices.
Their memorandum said the municipal manager should be suspended from duties because of:
• not supplying personal protective equipment;
• expired licence disks of unroadworthy trucks;
• relationships with external service providers and contractors;
• using of external lawyers when the municipality has a legal manager and labour relations manager;
• work schedules without consulting the community services department; and
• changing of stand-by allowance and shift allowance without consultation.
Workers also demanded that task grade and appointment titles of meter readers be corrected, back-pay of nine months after their job evaluations, payment of salary variances, as well as back-pay of danger/risk allowances.
They furthermore wanted information on Lekwa’s Covid-19 plan, the amount pledged by national government to help municipalities and provision of payslips of the previous four months.
The memorandum concluded by saying the trust relationship between employees and the municipal manager was damaged and Ms Gugulethu Mhlongo-Ntshangase was given seven working days to respond.
Also read: Mr Vusi Dlamini from Lekwa released on R2 000 bail after court appearance today
