SAMWU Post CEC Statement
14 December 2015
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) held a successful Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting from the 9th and 10thDecember at the Misty Hills Country Hotel. The CEC succeeded a strategic planning workshop and leadership development which was attended by CEC delegates on the 7th and 8th December at the same venue.
The CEC was held a few days after the conclusion of the COSATU 12th National Congress. We are pleased with our participation in the congress and believe that we played a major role in forging the unity and cohesion of the federation. We believe that we have affirmed ourselves and our relevance within COSATU. The CEC wishes the newly elected National Office Bearers of COSATU well in discharging their duties on behalf of the country’s working class.
State of the Organisation
The CEC congratulated SAMWU National Treasurer Portia Lindi on her election as the National Chairperson of Local Government Sector Education Training Authority (LGSETA) and SAMWU Gauteng Deputy Provincial Secretary, Nonceba Mbilini as the LGSETA Chairperson of the Remuneration Committee. We wish these comrades well in their new duties and trust that they will represent SAMWU and in particular municipal workers well in LGSETA.
The CEC received a report into the disciplinary hearing which was conducted following the suspension of Comrade Walter Theledi as the General Secretary of the union and the union’s Head of Department, Finance for mismanagement of the union’s finances. The independently commissioned disciplinary hearing recommended the dismissal of the two, a report which was duly accepted by the CEC.
Following the acceptance of the report, the CEC resolved that there is a need to fill the vacancy of General Secretary. The CEC duly elected the former Deputy General Secretary Simon Mathe as the General Secretary and subsequently elected the former Northern Cape Provincial Secretary Duma Lebakeng as the Deputy General Secretary. The position of HOD finance will be filled after an advertisement for the vacancy has been advertised in line with the union policy.
The CEC agreed that the union is relatively stable with majority of provincial structures being sound. In line with the recently amended Labour Relations Act, we have converted the employment of officials who were employed on contractual basis. We hope that municipalities will also follow suit in ensuring that all employees employed on contract be automatically employed on full time basis with full benefits.
We resolved that the union should convene a policy conference which will be held in the first half of 2016. We believe that the policy conference will better assist the union in crafting and articulating our policies.
Collective Bargaining
1. Amatola
We are pleased with the new agreements signed between ourselves and Amatola Water Board, in addition to the recently concluded salary and wage agreement. We believe that we have secured additional victories for our members. In the new agreements, we have secured permanent employment for over 20 workers who were working at Amatole on contact basis. This therefore means that these workers will now enjoy benefits such as pension, medical aid.
We applause the employer for ensuring that they comply with the recently amended Labour Relations Acts which states that all employees employed on permanent basis. We urge the employer to ensure that there is no employee within their ranks employed on precarious condition. We have also been able to address the salary disparities within Amatola by adjusting the salaries of laboratory technicians with effect from 01 December 2015. In addition to this, workers at Amatola will be having a happy Christmas as we have secured 13th cheque for all employees.
2. Vhembe District Municipality
The CEC deliberated thoroughly the state of municipalities and noted with concern the current state of municipalities and their entities. Of great concern to us is the current situation at the Vhembe District Municipality which was made worse by the illegal appointment of Azwindini Makhari as the Municipal Manager. Ms Mkhari is a known character with dubious and dark past. This is the same individual who was fired from the City of Tshwane as the Chief Financial Officer and was later moved to the Gauteng Gambling Board where she illegally increased her salary by over R500 000 without the approval of the board. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the attitude and behaviour of this individual who just a few days ago assaulted a local office bearer. We call on the ANC to do the honourable thing and remove this individual from the municipality as her presence there is not in the interest of service delivery or that of municipal workers.
3. Pikitup
Following numerous attempts to get an audience from the management of the City of Johannesburg’s waste management entity, our members decided went on a protest action at Pikitup. We are pleased with the decisive leadership of the Gauteng Department of Co-operative Governance and Tradition Affairs led by MEC Jacob Mamabolo in resolving the impasse between ourselves and the management of Pikiup which led to the signing an agreement which effectively led to the protest action coming to an end. We urge political office bearer to intervene in such a manner when workers are done wrong. We have full trust that the agreement will assist in addressing the salary disparities within the City of Johannesburg.
We believe that the agreement is in the interest of municipal workers as the effect of the principle of no work no pay will be mitigated through various options. We further agreed to the cessation of hostilities to allow for a conducive environment for further engagements with management including the assurance that the employer will not proceed with charges against our members who were involved in the protest action. We remain convinced that our members had genuine demands and hope that the facilitation process will speedily resolve the demands tabled by our members. We further vow our support for our members at the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) from the licensing department who are currently on a protest action. The National Office Bearers will be working closely with Regional and Provincial leadership in Gauteng to resolve the impasse in the interest of our members.
4. Bargaining Council
The CEC received a report from meetings of the bargaining council which included the proposed service charter and the disciplinary code. The meeting resolved that both this items should be referred back to our members. Provinces are expected to report back to the national office within the first two weeks of January.
As this was the last CEC for the year, we take this opportunity to wish our members happy festive season and a happy new year. We urge those who will be travelling to be cautious on the roads and for those who consume alcohol to know their limits. Be safe and be seen.
Issued by Simon Mathe, General Secretary, SAMWU Head Office, 14 December 2015
