Samwu won’t sleep until City fires Nair and scraps Tax Laws Amendment Act
JOBURG – The South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) won’t sleep until the government scraps the Tax Laws Amendment Act and the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act, and until Pikitup sacks its managing director Amanda Nair.
About 150 members of Samwu’s Johannesburg region marched to Mayor Parks Tau’s office on 25 February, demanding that the City comply with the Employment Equity Act which sets out to achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination. They also called for the implementation of affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment.
The union’s regional chairperson, Vuyabi Singonzo said, “The City and its various entities are not fully compliant and do not implement this Act. We won’t rest until the City deals with all those corrupt individuals in the City, including Pikitup managing director Amanda Nair who was cleared by an internal investigation. She must be suspended and investigated because she was cleared on baseless grounds.”
He said Samwu members have become targets of disciplinary processes by metro agencies. “We have observed the use of [frivolous] charges to fire our members… using outdated disciplinary policies and procedures. Discipline in the City of Johannesburg is no longer used to correct the behaviour of those who transgress, but it is used to harass, intimidate and dismiss our members from their jobs.”
The march then proceeded to the Department of Labour where the union demanded that the department takes action against the City for non-compliance of the Employment Equity Act. Samwu said they had witnessed a pattern where their members were being overlooked for promotion.
Samwu then moved on to Premier David Makhura’s office where they demanded the scrapping of theTaxation Laws Amendment Act and the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act which was scheduled to come into effect on 1 March. The amendments would prohibit workers who had contributed to provident funds from cashing in their entire retirement savings upon retiring. However, the presidency announced a postponement to these amendments and these will now likely only be implemented on 1 March 2018.
Singonzo said, “We are perplexed by the government’s unilateral decision without consultation with workers. A postponement is like postponing a poison. We want this act to be scrapped and e-tolls must be scrapped too.”
