SAMWU condemns Ugu District Municipality for its continued union bashing and victimization of workers.
27 May 2021
SAMWU condemns Ugu District Municipality for its continued union bashing and victimization of workers.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) in the KwaZulu Natal Province has learnt with great anger the decision by the Ugu District Municipality to dismiss nine of the union’s shop stewards in an attempt to solidify their crusade of destroying the union in the municipality.
The Ugu District Municipality covers the Ray Nkonyeni, Umzumbe, uMuziwabantu and uMdoni Local Municipalities which includes areas such as Scottburg, Port Edward and Harding.
The dismissal of these nine shop stewards follows yet another evil and ill-conceived decision by the same municipality wherein 136 workers were dismissed last year.
While the union is in the process of ensuring that 136 dismissed workers were reinstated, the municipality dealt another blow to the union by dismissing shop stewards who are representing workers in the institution.
As SAMWU, we are convinced that the decision to dismiss the shop stewards is nothing but an attempt by the municipality to cripple the union so they can continue doing as they please with municipal resources.
Of great concern to us is that these workers were dismissed for exposing fraud, corruption, maladministration in the municipality. This decision by the municipality is nothing but a ploy by the institution to ensure that workers are silenced, victimized and harassed if they do not turn a blind eye to the misappropriation of funds in the municipality.
As SAMWU we are convinced that the municipal management is so adamant on ensuring that they continue looting the finances of the union with impunity even if it means relegating workers to unemployment, starvation and poverty.
The municipal management has also shown that they have no interest in ensuring that residents served by the municipality receive the much-needed services. All of these dismissed employees have no less than 10 years unbroken service at the municipality.
As per the resolutions of the recently held SAMWU 12th National Congress, the union will be taking head-on all municipalities which have made it their business to dismiss workers en masse including those who seek to silence and victimize whistle-blowers.
SAMWU will therefore be challenging the dismissals of all workers in Ugu District Municipality. We cannot, under our watch allow municipalities to continue with union bashing and victimization of workers.
We further call on the intervention of the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Government, in particular the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to ensure that, in the interest of service delivery and rooting out corruption in municipalities, whistle-blowers are protected.
Issued by SAMWU Secretariat
Nokubonga Dinga
Provincial Secretary
065 871 8434
or
Xolani Shinga
Deputy Provincial Secretary
081 852 1821