Dismissed Ugu workers hope for reinstatement
The Shopstewards were dismissed in 2021.
The 136 workers who were dismissed by Ugu District Municipality in 2020 due to alleged acts of misconduct, are hopeful that they will be returning to work soon.
Some of these workers say they have been receiving communication stating that they might be reinstated on November 1.
This comes after the reinstatement of eight South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) shop stewards in Ugu who returned to work in September.
The shop stewards were dismissed in 2021.
However, Ugu District Municipality spokesperson, France Zama, told Fever that the circumstances that led to the dismissal of employees and that of shop stewards were not similar and therefore the merits of their cases are being dealt with differently.
Zama said in the matter involving dismissed shop stewards, the municipality was issued with a Labour Court order after the matter was referred to the Labour Court to appeal the dismissal, adding that in its judgement, the court ordered the reinstatement of the dismissed shop stewards.
“And I can therefore confirm that the municipality has implemented the Labour Court order accordingly and reinstated the dismissed shop stewards during the month of September 2022,” said Zama.
He added that the matter of the dismissed employees is still before the Labour Court, saying that the municipality shall make pronouncement in this regard once this matter has also been adjudicated upon.
Speaking to the Fever, one of the dismissed workers said what is worrying is that they are being promised reinstatements, adding that they initially thought they would be returning to work on October 1 but now they are hearing that they will return to work in November from individuals he could not mention.
Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal SAMWU provincial secretary, Nokubonga Dinga, said they are working tirelessly to ensure the reinstatement of the remaining workers at Ugu District Municipality.
Dinga said they are vindicated of their initial sentiments that the termination of these employees’ contracts of employment was not only unfair but also immoral.
She added that it has been the view of the union that whenever there are disagreements between municipal management and workers, municipalities in KZN have always resorted to dismissing workers instead of dealing with issues amicably and in the interest of service delivery.
“The union has already scored another victory where eight workers from Ugu were reinstated by the South African Local Government Bargaining Council,” said Dinga.
Also, ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said they are still calling on the reinstatement of all dismissed workers in Ugu.
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