SAFTU condemns in the strongest term the actions of management both in Durban recently and now in Tshwane, who have provoked the workers, through their unjustifiable conduct into embarking into strike action.
In the case of Durban, workers were forced to embark on a strike after management decided to selectively promote other employees. What caused workers to be angry is that this was a clear political manoeuvre to buy favour from the former members of the Umkhonto We Sizwe who are now members of the Umkhonto We Sizwe Military Veterans Association. It appeared that the Durban Metropolitan leadership sought to use MKVA as a buffer to protect it from scrutiny. Subsequently we saw the arrest and charging of Mayor Zandile Gumede for fraud running into over two hundred million rands.
This strike received widespread publicity and yet few months down the line the Tshwane Metro Council does almost the same. The City has given hefty increases of 18% to some workers to the exclusion of the other loyal and dedicated workers who have been left livid with anger.
SAFTU calls on the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to intervene and order the Tshwane Metro political council to stop playing mind games and finger-pointing but to pay all the workers the 18% increase they all deserve.
SAFTU calls on the Minister to also ensure that systems are put in place to put an end to corruption in both metros so that no Mayor or any executive can again find it possible to practise this kind of unfair acts of discrimination. We raise this in the background of the recent Auditor General reports on the local government that shows decay and collapsing systems.
SAFTU stands ready to mobilise its members to embark into solidarity with the workers in Tshwane so that the matter is speedily resolved in the advantage of workers currently on strike.
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