The City of Tshwane is evidently not concerned that Ntiyiso Consulting Group pays meter readers R2,50c and sometimes 50c for every meter that they manage to read.
This despite the fact that Ntiyiso Consulting Group gets R8 million per month from the City of Tshwane in terms of the meter reading contract between the City and the company.
The City of Tshwane has also shown no concern regarding pleas by meter readers to be insourced into the City of Tshwane workforce as they are not happy with the treatment meted out to them by Ntiyiso Consulting Group.
The meter readers are of the opinion that the remuneration that Ntiyiso pays them is too little and inadequate to help them meet their daily basic necessities, and that their working conditions under Ntiyiso are very bad, hence they want to be insourced into the City of Tshwane labour force and have job security with benefits that come with being a permanent worker.
In a written response to Tshwane Talks’ queries regarding the plight of the meter readers working under Ntiyiso Consulting Group, the City of Tshwane nonchalantly said the following:
“In instances whereby the City appoints a contractor, it concerns itself with the deliverables or operations for which the company has been enlisted and as long as the operations that are supposed to be carried out by such a company are not impacted on, there is no way the City can meddle in their HR issues.”
In response to Tshwane Talks’ queries regarding the plight of the meter readers, Ntiyiso Consulting Group spokesperson Regomoditswe Mavimbela wrote the following:
“Meter readers are paid R2,50c for verified meter reading and 50c for the successfully captured notes, so the average meter reader can earn from R7000 up to R13 000 depending on the combined number of R2,50c and 50c he has made from reading the meters.”
Mavimbela insists that the salaries paid to meter readers are generally above minimum wage and are benchmarked against industry norms.
Ntiyiso Consulting Group has more or less 100-meter readers and many of them believe that with the R8 million that Ntiyiso Consulting Group receives from the City of Tshwane on a monthly basis, their remuneration should be much higher than the R2,50c and 50c that they get for every meter that they have managed to read.
Mavimbela pointed out that the R8 million that Ntiyiso Consulting Group gets from the City of Tshwane per month is not only for the purposes of meter-reading services, but includes other services which her company renders to the City of Tshwane.
“Our goal is to ensure that we increase the liquidity and cash flow of the municipalities that we work for and in this regard, we work with various partners to provide revenue operational support to municipalities, which focuses on the value chain and functions of the municipalities,” she said.
“These may include providing meter-reading where there is a need, to support accurate billing accounts, ensure that payments to the municipality are made in full and we also deal with recovery of revenue and customer education etc,” said Mavimbela.
Asked whether Ntiyiso Consulting Group provides meter readers with personal protective equipment, Mavimbela responded as follows:
“PPE in the form of reflective jackets, overalls and identification cards were provided to all workers in July 2023, the type of work performed by meter readers does not present high occupational hazards and in cases where a location is classified as a dangerous one, we ensure that the meter-reader is accompanied by a safety officer,” she said.
Be that as it may, meter readers insist that there is no security measures whatsoever that have been implemented by Ntiyiso Consulting Group and that in some instances they have been robbed of their belongings and assaulted in crime-infested areas like Jukulyn in Soshanguve while on duty.
Regarding compensation for meter readers who get robbed and injured while on duty, Mavimbela responded as follows:
“Once an employee brings the matter to the awareness of the organisation, and has reported the matter to the police, the organisation does offer a platform to review every case for compensation.”
But yet again, meter readers are adamant that Ntiyiso Consulting Group doesn’t pay them compensation whatsoever in this regard.
When asked as to whether Ntiyiso Consulting Group offers pension fund, medical aid and UIF to the meter readers, Mavimbela said the following:
“We issue pay slips outlining remuneration, UIF and tax deductions, but we do not offer pension fund and medical aid as these are benefits associated with full time contracts.”.
Meter readers say the lack of pension fund and medical aid are some of the issues that have compeled them to ask the City of Tshwane several times for insourcing instead of working for a private company like Ntiyiso Consulting Group.
Am an employee of Rihati utility services not Ntiyiso. Ntiyiso has passed the Meyer reading contract to Rihati utility services. I want to contest everything Mavimbela has said . I can even give my payslips as proof our salaries rage from R1500 – R10000. And only a few have earned R10000 due to the unfairness in our workplace . We don’t get paid for issues like intimidation ( if you come to work and you get intimidated at the field they won’t pay you ), if you come to work and they sent you back home due to technical issues on their side you get nothing. We don’t get paid for overtime and holidays . Our contract state that we Independent contractor’s but yet they pay uif for us and we work with their equipment. Our HR is not even afraid to tell us that labour law act doesn’t apply to us.
I want to know who this Mavimbela guy is , and why is he saying things he doesn’t know of. We don’t know this person.
Am afraid to mention my name