Residents were furious when they realised their rubbish was, once again, not going to be removed.
“Some people in Carletonville Extension 9 had no refuse removal for two months. The service was restored for just two weeks before it was stopped without warning once again,” a Carletonville resident, Ms Willemien Visser, complained.
Various other complaints streamed in on social media. By Monday afternoon, rows of full dustbins still stood on the sidewalks, like in Coronation Street.
At the same time, a group of workers were sitting, drinking and smoking next to a municipal vehicle in the Pick n Pay parking lot opposite the municipal buildings. Two more Merafong trucks were parked nearby.
On Tuesday, however, the municipality denied there was a strike. The spokesperson said Merafong had met with the workers on Monday to provide information about what is going on.
A member of Samwu’s local leadership shed more light on the matter. “We asked management again when those who worked during the hard Covid-19 lockdown would get their Covid-allowances,” he said.
He added that Samwu determined that the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) would pay the allowances over to the municipality.
However, Merafong had “redirected” the funds to other projects instead of paying the workers. The municipality allegedly still owes the workers back-pay for the past ten years.
The monies are for a previous increase that was reportedly not honoured.
During an earlier strike over the same issue, the workers claimed that some managers got a raise and back-pay as part of the same agreement. But, despite many promises, this benefit never filtered down to them. The workers met with the municipal management again on Tuesday.
The meeting’s outcome would determine whether Samwu would apply for members to participate in official strike action.
