GTM strike halted by High Court

The former labourers claim that they were not given a notice about their contracts ending on time, instead they were told on December 25 2018 that their contracts end on December 31. About 150 people who clean the streets of Lenyenye, Nkowankowa and Tzaneen have been left without jobs.

They were hired under a service provider who was hired by the GTM, most of them claim that they have been working for years as labour hires for the municipality and when a new service provider came in they would be employed by that new company. They are demanding that they must be in-sourced by the municipality into other projects and to eventually be made permanent employees of the GTM.

“Their contracts have ended, we have hired a new service provider who came with his own people and there is nothing we can do about that.“We even tried negotiating with them that we can take 26 of them, but they refused our offer.”As much as they have a right to strike, they don’t have the right to violate other people’s rights”explained Neville Ndlala.

The workers are represented by the Southern African Clothing Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) amongst other unions which they say that a number of them won’t help the situation. “Out of 151 people they only take 26 it doesnt make sense, how will they choose who to take and who not to take,” asked one disgruntled protester.

Daniel Kgwale, Provincial Organiser of SACTWU, says that they stand by the memorandum of the municipality to in source the workers in different projects and eventually all the labourers to be employed.” In the past the municipality had agreed to a scope to accommodate the workers, but now they have hired other people and left these people without jobs,” explained Kgwale.

He concluded by saying that they will take the matter further to the CCMA