A STRIKE settlement agreement presented to the city’s Executive Committee on Tuesday as been rejected by the Democratic Alliance which describes the report as “flimsy” and says it doesn’t speak to any kind of accountability for those responsible.
DA caucus leader Nicole Graham said the report gives a vague background to the strike and indicates that the 55 grade 10 posts created in December 2018 were “supernumerary”, meaning that they were not necessary for the functioning of the city’s Water and Sanitation Department.
“It then mentions that despite 300 applications for the created posts, only the employees employed in 2013 (MK Vets) were hired. There is no mention of who took this decision or any reference to accountability for those people,” she said.
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According to Graham, City Manager Sipho Nzuza claimed the process had followed normal HR and line department processes.
“This is simply a nonsensical answer. There has very obviously been political and administrative interference, and those responsible must be made accountable,” she said.
Graham said the DA understood the frustrations of the aggrieved employees, but that their conduct during the strike was unacceptable.
“No mention is made of how employees accessed the municipal vehicles that were used to disrupt and trash the city. This is mentioned in the report, but the dismissal of these employees and the recovery of costs is not,” she said.
“The report goes on to say that all employees who are grade 3 and 4 will have an opportunity to apply for re-grading within 30 days. This seems to be a thinly-veiled reference to a SAMWU memo seen by the DA, which states that all grade 3 officials will be escalated to grade 5, and all grade 4 officials will be escalated to grade 6. This could have huge repercussions for the city’s budget and ratepayers, and needs to be urgently clarified,” she said.
Graham said she was shocked that the city had agreed that the principle of no-work, no-pay be waived in this instance. “This means that city employees who trashed the city, disrupted and sabotaged essential services will still be paid as though they were at work. This is a slap in the face of residents who were left without essential services, including water and electricity, for up to two weeks.”
“The DA rejects this report outright, and demands further information from the city. Failing this, we will consider further options against the city, including potential legal action,” she said.
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