SAMWU Welcomes Dissolution of Tshwane Council

The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) in the Tshwane Region notes and welcomes the decision and announcement by both the Premier and MEC for COGTA in Gauteng to invoke Section 139 (1) ( c ) of the constitution which effectively means that City of Tshwane Municipal Council is dissolved and an administrator will take over until the election of a new Council within 90 days.

It is unfortunate that the City of Tshwane now has no political leadership, all political parties represented in Council should take blame and responsibility for the continued collapse of Council meetings and consequently the dissolution of Council. We, however, believe that the intervention by the Gauteng  Provincial Government will assist in bringing normality and stability in the City, this in the interest of municipal workers and residents of the City.
 
On 7 February 2020, SAMWU marched to the offices of the Executive Mayor and City Manager pleading with all political parties to show maturity and process reports in Council. This was after we as workers and residents of the City had, over the past few years, witnessed a Council with three Executive Mayors and four City Managers. We also witnessed more than six collapsed council meetings, which led to amongst others non-approval of the adjustment budget.

The last straw was the collapse of Council meeting convened on 27 February 2020. It’s unfortunate that all our efforts fell on deaf ears and SAMWU had no option but to write to the MEC for COGTA requesting his intervention in ensuring that Council meetings are convened and that if all efforts fail, the City be put under administration.
 
It is against that background that SAMWU as part of an advanced detachment of the working class accept that an administrator be appointed until a new Council is elected. We are pleading with the MEC to ensure that in the next few days such an administrator resume work to deal with urgent issues that affect workers including;
 
·       Approval of the Adjustment budget processes
·       Extension of diesel contract to ensure that buses continue to run
·       Appointment of an Acting  of Chief of Emergency
·       Buying of oil to power Rooiwal Power Station
 
Noting that some officials may take advantage of the recent crises and use it to their advantage, SAMWU calls for a moratorium on the appointment of staff excluding critical positions. We also call on all staff members to remain calm and continue to discharge their responsibilities in line with their Job descriptions. The people of Tshwane deserve better services and we must continue to provide such.
 
To the incoming administrator, please note that we have our own conditions of service and signed collective agreements. One of the signed collective agreement is on the benchmarking process and workers shall be paid their monies in July 2020. In executing duties, the administrator should not interfere with workers’ conditions of service.

Municipal workers, in particular, our members are ready and will continue to render services to residents of the City. We will work with anyone who has the greater interests of municipal workers and the delivery of services to the residents of the country’s Capital City.  

Issued by SAMWU Tshwane Region

Mpho Tladinyane
Regional Secretary
083 941 5888
Or

Valentine Matlala
Deputy Regional Secretary
084 465 5598