Samwu members to finally receive seven months’ backpay

New Tshwane metro police recruits will receive their outstanding seven months of pay following a protest by the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) at Tshwane House yesterday.

More than 100 Samwu members, mostly Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) officers, marched across the capital, aggrieved by “unilateral decisions” by the administration of mayor Solly Msimanga.

They said the city had failed to pay them their salaries since December and had been making decisions without consulting them.

This after 2 000 officers completed their required training in November last year, before graduating and being absorbed as constables.

However, the officers say they were instead deployed as security officers following a termination of contract between the city and security companies in June.

They also did not receive their upgraded salaries for the past seven months, Samwu regional secretary Mpho Tladinyane said.

“We are here to demand that they are paid their outstanding money. The city has intentions of using them as security guards. If they want to indeed use them as security guards, there is a process that needs to be followed, as this is restructuring.

“These workers will not work as security guards, because the city has not consulted them on that matter.

“All those already posted as security guards must be withdrawn as processes were not followed,” he told The Citizen.

The city would look at paying the outstanding salaries as soon as possible, following internal technical issues that affected payment, TMPD spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said.

He said the officers were deployed in various municipal regions and premises to get the feel of TMPD duties.

“We have received all their issues in a memorandum and we will look into each one of them to see how they can be resolved. We can also confirm that they will receive the money due to them.”