Municipal workers seized four municipal vehicles and parked them at the infamous R45 million ‘Sarafina sports facility’ in an act of protest over non-payment.
The Herald met with about 12 workers who say the J.B. Marks municipality’s infrastructure department has not paid them for several months. They had been working on the sports facility. These are the same workers who barricaded the N12 last Thursday after the municipality failed to pay them their salaries as promised.
‘On 24 August, we had a meeting with the police and the municipal officials. They promised that our salaries would be paid into our accounts on 18 September. That did not happen and that is why we have taken the drastic action of impounding the municipal vehicles. We took them from the drivers while they were passing through Sarafina. We made sure they drove them to the sports facility,’ said one worker.
Another said this was the fourth time they had taken the municipal vehicles. ‘We are not going to release them this time. We will only let them go if our demands are met and the money is paid into our bank accounts,’ he said.
The workers say the refuse in the area has not been collected for days because the drivers are afraid the vehicles will be taken away from them.
At about 16:00, the vehicles belonging to the library, parks, infrastructure, water and sanitation were parked at the stadium. When the journalist left, the workers vowed to seize more vehicles and park them at the same place.
The JB Marks municipality did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment.
