VANDERBIJLPARK – There was chaos and confusion at the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) offices this week as disgruntled workers took the extreme action of attaching the municipal assets due to alleged unpaid overtime monies!
On Tuesday, July 9, the sheriff of the court swooped in and allegedly seized a whopping 60 vehicles from various depots across the municipality, intensifying the already heated dispute between the workers and the struggling local authority.
This jaw-dropping action, which saw 30 private vehicles and 30 trucks being impounded, follows a court order favouring the unhappy municipality workers.
Insiders reveal that after endless negotiations and failed attempts to resolve the unpaid overtime payment debacle, the workers decided they had had enough.
Desperate and fed up, several employees from the traffic and fire departments spoke to Sedibeng Ster, sharing their heartbreaking stories under a veil of anonymity as they feared a backlash from management.
“We are tired of working for free. We invest our time and when the municipality should pay us, they play games,” said one furious employee.
While shocking, this incident is not the first time ELM has made unsavoury headlines of having its assets attached due to non-payment. Power utility, Eskom, and water supplier, Rand Water, have, in the past, had to go the legal route in order to force the municipality to pay for they were owed.
Recently, the municipality reported shelled out a staggering R55,315,741.84 in a bitter legal battle with an employee over unfair labour practices related to acting allowance benefits.
The bombshell was dropped by Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mzi Khumalo, in a written reply to the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
In a bid to calm the storm, ELM spokesperson, Makhosonke Sangweni, said: “The matter has been amicably resolved between parties in dispute and the misunderstanding clarified. As we speak, the cars are back with the Municipality, and we are finalizing a binding agreement between the parties involved.”
However, Sedibeng Ster can exclusively reveal that the vehicles were still sitting at the sheriff’s storage at the time of going to press.
