ANC allegedly threatens Ugu not to hire workers
The contracted workers who did not want to be named said most of the problems started when their monthly contracts were not given to them on time.
The ANC Tolomane Mnyayiza Region allegedly threatened Ugu District Municipality not to renew the contracts of the workers who were filling in for the 119 workers who were dismissed in 2019.
The workers told Fever that they were told by the municipality that the African National Congress in the Tolomane Mnyayiza Region said the municipality should not renew the contracts because those contracted workers are not ‘comrades’.
The workers who were employed on a month-to-month basis were left high and dry following an order by the Labour Court in Durban on October 19 which directed that all the 119 employees under the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) must be reinstated effective from November 1.
The contracted workers who did not want to be named said most of the problems started after their monthly contracts were not given to them on time.
“We feel that the municipality has been unfair to us. What worries us is that the municipality told us that it wants to keep some of the hard working staff who were employed on a month-to-month basis. They then told us that the ANC in the region threatened Ugu not to keep us because we are not comrades,” said one of the employees.
The employee further alleged that Ugu and the ANC prioritised SAMWU members because they vote during regional ANC elective conferences and they also play a role in the ANC national elective conference.
“Besides all the political reasoning, the municipality would give us five monthly contracts to sign because they were never given to us on time but we did not question anything because we wanted to keep our jobs. We feel that this is unfair and we need to take legal steps against the municipality,” said another employee.
Speaking on the ANC allegedly threatening the municipality into not hiring the workers, Ugu municipal spokesperson France Zama said the municipality would like to dispel the notion that it had promised anyone employment.
Zama said the municipality will consider the workers’ skills should vacancies be available.
“The contracts were on a month-to-month basis with no clause stating that the municipality will renew them. The workers you refer to, had entered into the said contracts fully aware of this,” said Zama.
Meanwhile, ANC Tolomane Mnyayiza Regional spokesperson, Wendy Mqadi told Fever that they have been telling Ugu that should its budget permit, some of the contracted workers should keep their jobs even after the 119 workers have been reinstated.
“We do not take decisions in municipalities but we guide municipalities. And we do not care whether workers in those municipalities are ANC members or not. These workers knew that they would have to go should the 119 workers be reinstated but we are guiding Ugu in finding a suitable way forward,” said Mqadi.
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