POLITICS

Minister Sicelo Shiceka must be sacked! - SAMWU

Union says workers wouldn't be able to cooperate with minister, knowing he abused public funds

The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) would like to reiterate the position of both ourselves and our Federation COSATU. The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka must be relieved of his duties.

Now that the Public Protector found that Minister Shiceka acted unlawfully, he must go. We are expecting nothing less than decisive action from the President, with regards to this issue.

The Union views corruption as a cardinal sin in the workplace, we deal harshly with managers and or politicians that are involved in corruption. We would demand no less for the Minister, he must be sacked!

Workers would never be able to cooperate with the Minister, knowing that he abused public funds. It is a sad day indeed, to know the Minister is responsible for these heinous acts.

Minister Shiceka has been absent from duty for too long now. Local Government is in desperate need of decisive leadership, solutions to resolve complex social problems and a decent turnaround strategy, to help ensure that this sphere of Government delivers much needed services to communities and transforms the lives of people.

Having Shiceka absent from his role as a Minister, has cost communities dearly. By now we would have expected corruption to be rooted out from Local Government, issues ofinstitutional incapacity resolved, nepotism dealt with, an end to the erratic service delivery protest actions, the thousands of vacant positions nationwide filled, services to be better delivered and the quality of life for many - especially rural dwellers - to be improved.

As the largest local Government Union, our position is clear; the Minister must be released of his duties as soon as possible.

Statement issued by Tahir Sema, SAMWU national spokesperson, October 14 2011

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