The Citizen reports that angry employees of the Emfuleni Local Municipality in the south of Johannesburg embarked on sporadic protest actions in recent days, demanding their salary payments for the month of May.
Several roads leading to the municipality offices were barricaded with rocks and burning tyres. The SA Municipal Workers’ Union’s Rhau Mphahlele said the situation of delayed salary payments has now happened for the third time since the start of this year. Mphahlele called on the employer to engage Rand Water and Eskom to find a lasting solution to their debt dispute as it was impacting badly on workers. “As we speak, workers are being paid but as the union we are still going to engage in mapping out the way forward because this situation is forever recurring,” he indicated. “The continuation of the bank account attachments by Rand Water and Eskom means that no services will be rendered to our communities, and this is why we are also calling on Provincial and National Governments to step in and assist this municipality as a matter of urgency,” Mphahlele added. He expressed the view that if the situation was not arrested soon, the whole institution would totally collapse. Emfuleni is currently under the leadership of the ANC through a minority government. In a statement issued on Monday, the municipality apologised to all employees for the delays, saying the municipality was currently going through turbulent times. A spokesperson said they continued to look forward to collaborating with Eskom, Rand Water and all other creditors “in finding solutions that serve the interests of communities while maintaining a positive and cordial relationship.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Stephen Tau at The Citizen
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