Muni protest could leave residents with no water

LIMPOPO – A strike by Nehawu members at the Vhembe District Municipality could leave residents without any water.

According to The Citizen, about 400 workers, including water specialists in the municipality, downed tools and left dams and reservoirs unattended.

The workers were protesting against what they called the municipality’s failure to ensure they were paid subsidies, which was a condition attached to their transfer from the water affairs department to the municipality in 2005.

Workers are also demanding benefits they lost when they were declared municipality officials.

Nehawu provincial chairman Calvin Chamano said the patience of their members has been “overstretched by ten years”.

Speaking to the African News Agency (ANA) after talks with the municpality collapsed on Wednesday, Chamano said: “Last week they promised our members that payment will be made on Friday, and it passes with nothing deposited in their account. We want this to be done before they could return to work.”

Municipality spokesperson Matodzi Ralushai confirmed that the workers were on strike, and expressed fears that dams level were dropping with no water coming.

He said the municipality was aware of striking workers’ concerns and was seeking spreadsheet records from the water affairs department to determine who qualified for the subsidy payments.

The municipality and Nehawu are at odds over the number of employees who qualify for the subsidies.

The union said all members who were transferred should be paid, while the municipality says only 120 are eligible for payment.