Leaderless Tshwane’s metro workers could face bleak month-end

Tshwane metro workers could face a bleak month-end if the City does not get its affairs in order soon.

“Workers risk not being paid at the end of March,” said SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) regional secretary in Tshwane Mpho Tladinyane.

This as the metro faces being without leadership following the resignation of former Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa and the term of acting city manager Augustin Makgata coming to an end, reports Pretoria East Rekord.

The apparent gloom for municipal workers comes hot on the collapse of the sixth consecutive council meeting on Thursday, where a motion for the metro’s adjustment budget was set to be passed and a new mayor elected.

“Samwu is saddened by the collapse of the council meeting,” Tladinyane said.

The collapse of the meeting came after a march by the union held outside the metro’s headquarters earlier this month.

“In trying to salvage what remains of the capital city, Samwu staged a march demanding that councillors shelve their egos and political differences and process the business of council,” he said.

Tladinyane said the failed council sitting could possibly see the metro losing a whopping R500 million in grants from National Treasury.

The council meeting on Thursday ended abruptly, when opposition parties walked out after they demanded speaker Katlego Mathebe’s resignation.

Their walk-out was condemned by cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Lebogang Maile.

“This is deplorable.”

Maile said the actions of the councillors showed “flagrant disregard for the interests of the public”.

“Tshwane has a number of service delivery challenges to address as a matter of urgency … council sittings are meant to discuss and find solutions to those challenges,” Maile said.

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