Amid the outrage and angst, several conspiracy theories have arisen regarding why 223 municipal employees were axed this week.
Acclaimed legal expert and law lecturer, Dr Llewellyn Curlewis however, believes the municipality seems to be well within its rights.
“As people get excited for Black Friday, we are getting ready for a very ‘Black December’,” said one of the municipal employees who received a dismissal letter. “Those of us who are renting will have to move, those of us who are paying off cars and other accounts will have to make arrangements, and some of us will have to rethink where we send our children to school as January approaches and we have school fees, uniforms and books to consider.”
The staff members, including refuse collectors, firefighters and traffic officials, were suspended after a violent confrontation over unpaid overtime on September 25. Councillors were held hostage at the Council chambers by disgruntled employees, who parked municipal vehicles across the exits to the Show Grounds where the Council chambers are situated.
Acting Municipal Manager, Muzi Mayisela indicated in a previous interview the disciplinary process would be finalised this week, saying he felt it was important for staff to understand that a violent transgression of the law would not be tolerated in the workplace.
‘Mayor’s ego should not be greater than community’s need’
Chairman of the Newcastle Business and Residents Forum (NBRF), Mdu Mnisi called the decision to terminate the employment of 223 people at once ‘crazy’.
“This is absolutely ridiculous,” stated Mnisi. “You can’t teach a person a lesson because of your bruised ego, by firing them. Now the municipality is going to have 223 labour disputes. Who is going to pay for that?”
In his statement, Mnisi referred to video footage circulated on social media which captured Mayor, Ntuthuko Mahlaba’s hot-tempered reaction after one of the protesters threw a rock, which struck him on the face.
“I saw the Mayor taking off his jacket and wanting to get into a fist fight with the employees. As the Mayor, he should be mature enough not to become engaged in physical confrontations. It is sad that so many people have lost their jobs. I think the best way to have handled it would have been to address each case on an individual basis and look at the merits of each and every case.”
He continued, “At this point, the municipality is cornered financially and not in a position to fire people, knowing that doing so will incur another expense. If the municipality loses in court, it will be at the expense of Newcastle. You need to weigh the matter and decide if your ego is greater than the need of the people who depend on you. As Mayor, Dr Mahlaba should not personalise this. He should consider what is in the best interest of the town.”
Staff feel there is a sneaky reason behind dismissals
One of the affected staff members, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, said she and her colleagues had anticipated the municipality would resort to this action after they received their suspension letters.
“We are not surprised. We know how the municipality operates. Nothing is fair,” she said.
Some allege the mass exodus of staff members from the municipality creates an opportunity for the ruling party to permanently employ ‘comrades’, who temporarily rendered the services of the suspended staff. Others believe terminating the staff frees up funds for the municipality to be able pay December bonuses.
“We haven’t even been paid our full salaries for this month. Our dismissal letters are dated November 20, so the payslips we received reflected we were only paid till the 20th. Our salaries from the 20th till the end of the month have been deducted,” revealed a staff member.
Legal expert feels dismissals were fair
Dr Curlewis asserted that ‘on face value’, the punishment of the staff was fair.
“Obviously, the staff have the right to approach the CCMA [Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration] with this before they seek relief from the Labour Court. However, it is one thing to have a strike for a good reason, but it is a different matter when you assault a person, cause malicious damage to property or hold a person hostage. These transgressions of offences cannot be condoned.”
“In most instances, the employer, after listening to both sides, has the right to dismiss you. There is a provision for the sanction of dismissal if you have transgressed the law, and if the employer follows due process. This means there must be both substantive compliance (looking at the merits and facts of the case) and procedural fairness (both sides must be able to put their arguments before an independent presiding officer). Even for those who have not engaged in any transgression themselves, they can be found to have tacitly condoned the behaviour of their colleagues and the law does make provision for common purpose,” continued Dr Curlewis.
“Obviously, there will be a big outcry from the public, so they may be re-instated in their original posts, or there may be a settlement.”
RELATED STORY: Suspended municipal workers to learn their fates this week
Exco councillor fears this will cost ratepayers
Dr Koos Vorster, a member of the Council’s Executive Committee (Exco) explained this was not the end of the road for the aggrieved staff and cautioned it could be six months or even a few years before the matter was resolved.
“The staff have seven days in which to lodge an objection against the termination of their services. If they are unhappy, they can approach the CCMA or the Labour Court. I can’t see the unions just sitting back and accepting it without standing up and challenging it. Council has agreed to extend the contract of the EPWP [Expanded Public Works Program] workers by another month. They have been assisting the municipality by performing the duties of the suspended staff,” he explained.
Dr Vorster admitted feeling ‘ambivalent’ about how the municipal staff were punished. He explained on the one hand, management should have informed staff earlier that there would be a problem paying overtime. On the other however, staff should not have held Council hostage.
“Those staff who were suspended have already been punished in that they have not received any overtime pay at all for the past two months, but I don’t think it is fair to treat all of them the same way, because they are not all guilty of the same thing. Some were not involved in the incident at the Council chambers, but were suspended after going on a sympathy strike in support of those workers. I personally wonder if the matter could not have been dealt with differently. Either way, nobody wins. Even the courts eventually uphold the terminations, the refuse collection will suffer until this matter is resolved,” he concluded.
Dr Mahlaba declined to comment, saying he did not get involved in the administration and felt the Municipal Manager would be better suited to provide feedback. Mayisela however, was indisposed at the time of publishing and indicated the questions posed by the Newcastle Advertiser would be answered on Monday.
ORIGINAL STORY: Municipal workers down tools for overtime pay
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