Employees of the Merafong City Local Municipality are busy with an informal strike today because they did not receive their salaries. This has brought service delivery to a standstill for the day.
According to several employees standing outside the municipal buildings this morning, they are usually paid at midnight at the start of the 25th of each month.
This morning, however, their salaries were just not paid in.
“Neither we nor our unions were told that this is going to happen. No-one is talking to us to tell us what is going on,” one of the workers said.
The employees complain that they, just as most other salaries, have commitments like debit orders going off their accounts on certain days. If their money is not in when this goes off, they will have to pay the extra fees themselves.
As far as could be determined, all workers, officials and councillors are being affected.
At approximately 11:00 employees who bank with FNB – the same bank that the municipality is using – started getting notices that their money was eventually paid in.
Here is a video showing the striking employees at the municipality at about 11:00 today:
