Nine Ugu employees suspended
Notices of intention to suspend were also issued to five other workers.
Nine Ugu employees belonging to the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) have been suspended.
According to a statement released by the municipality, the shop stewards were suspended for disrupting an internal disciplinary hearing on December 11, 2019.
ALSO READ : SAMWU workers strike, but Ugu says services will not be affected
Spokesman France Zama said notices of intention to suspend were also issued to five employees who were found to have been in an unauthorised area using municipal vehicles during normal working hours.
“In terms of the notices given, the shop stewards and employees were given an opportunity to make their representation on January 10 but instead chose to stage a protest outside the municipal offices where they peppered management and staff with threats and intimidation.
“It is unfortunate that Samwu has decided to publicly condone these acts and decided to confuse the public by attributing the suspensions to the municipal manager, DD Naidoo who, for the record, is not involved in this process since he is also a complainant in the matter.”
The municipality said while it remained firm in its commitment to maintaining labour harmony in the workplace, it could not tolerate acts of lawlessness, intimidation and threats.
“The municipality will submit itself to due processes in dealing with this matter and all parties shall be afforded a fair chance to defend their alleged misconduct.
“We do apologise to all our communities for any inconvenience.”
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
To receive our FREE email newsletter, click HERE
