Samwu demands that Tshwane take responsibility for attack on employee

The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) and the City of Tshwane are at loggerheads over who should take responsibility for the attack on a municipal employee on Sunday.

Gauteng Samwu provincial secretary Mpho Tladinyane demanded that the city should take responsibility for the attack in which the employee who was shot is a member of the union.

‘Deplorable’

City manager Johann Mettler has condemned the attack and urged law enforcement to bring the perpetrators to book.

“This incident is deplorable, and we plead with law enforcement to find the suspects, lock them up and throw the keys away. We will not cower in the face of intimidation by thugs. If the perpetrators are found to be our employees they will be booted out of the employ of the city,” he said.

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“An employee of the city and a member of Samwu was accosted and shot at by individuals who robbed him of the municipal vehicle he was in,” he said of the attack.

Meanwhile, Tladinyane said Samwu would continue to use all avenues at its disposal to ensure that the city complied with the SALGBC (South African Local Government Bargaining Council) salary and wage collective agreement.

“We will be opposing this frivolous and vexatious application by the city in the SALGBC later this month,” he said.

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“The city does have the necessary funds required to fund the 3.5% and 5.4% salary and wage increases which are due to municipal workers. We know the decision to deny workers their salary increases is motivated by the anti-worker attitude of the DA.”

Tladinyane said the union would not rest until the workers were paid their increases.

Tshwane vs Samwu

City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said it stood by its comment. He said the city had filed the salary and wage increases exemption application at the SALGBC last Thursday.

It was waiting for the exemption application to be heard at the council between the city and labour unions, the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union and Samwu next week.

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“The city’s application is anchored on irrefutable evidence of its financial position, which is the main reason there was no budget appropriation for salary and wage increases for the 2023-24 financial year,” he said.

To add to the pressure, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Tshwane regional chair Obakeng Ramabodu has given Tshwane an ultimatum to improve the security of the city or the EFF would.

He said “pitch-dark streets”, road intersections and public parks are now crime hot spots.