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GroundUp reports that workers at the Matjhabeng Local Municipality were finally paid on Tuesday morning following a bitter strike over unpaid salaries.
It was reported last week that a number of protests and sit-ins led by the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) had taken place after thousands of Matjhabeng workers, including the mayor, had not received their salaries for October. The municipality indicated that its banking account had been frozen a day before payments were due to be made. The municipality is battling with service providers who claim they are owed millions of rands. Many services in communities across Welkom and other towns under Matjhabeng municipality were brought to a halt as municipal employees demanded that they be paid immediately. The situation became tense on Friday morning after municipal manager Lonwabo Ngoqo wrote a letter stating that employees would have to wait until the end of the month. This led some workers to dump and burn rubbish in front of the municipal building. On Tuesday, Samuel Potsotso Liphoko of Samwu reported: “They have found the money so the workers can be paid. We do not know where they found the money from, but we are only concerned that workers must be paid.” He added: “All the workers went back to work on Tuesday just before 12 (noon) and we have stopped the strike. Should the same problem continue next month, we will again embark on a strike.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Becker Semela at GroundUp
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page