Angry employees of the Community Works Programme (CWP) gathered early on Tuesday morning, 1 February, to protest peacefully near the Ikageng Police Station. They say they have raised their concerns with their site- and district managers for the past three years. They demand fair treatment of workers and salary increments.
Video: Dineo Letsholo
The strike began after a formal Memorandum of Grievance letter was submitted to Mr Advocate Nkewana, the district manager, regarding these matters on 3 November 2020. They say they have only received empty promises.
According to Vuyiswa Mphuthi, a CWP participant, all ground employees, from the participants to the ground supervisors, do not know when their actual pay date is. They don’t get payslips to stipulate their daily rates and deductions from their stipends.
“We must just wait and see when the money we worked hard for reflects in our accounts,” says Vuyiswa. “We only work eight days a month and find it very difficult to provide for our families. We urge senior management to look into the issue and at least negotiate for us to earn a basic salary of R3,500 per month,” said Joyce Rammekwa, a CWP participant.
According to Nkewana, he was not aware of the employees’ strike. He agreed to meet with the ground supervisors with feedback from top management on 11 February 2022.
