The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) in Tshwane is adamant that the dismissal of 33 of its members from work by the City of Tshwane was unprocedural as they were informed about their dismissals via WhatsApp instead of being invited to a meeting whereby, they would be informed of their fate on a face-to-face basis.
At an exclusive interview with Tshwane Talks on Monday morning in SAMWU office in Tshwane, SAMWU Tshwane Regional Chairperson Ngwako Mathabathe vowed that the Union would definitely be taking the matter to court as the dismissals were unprocedural and also unlawful.
“SAMWU members didn’t cause any disruptions whatsoever because the employer had not notified them that they had been dismissed from work and so on the day of the alleged disruptions (last week Thursday) they had reported for work as usual and nobody prevented them from carrying out their duties, and at around mid-day on Thursday they heard rumours that they had been dismissed from work by the City of Tshwane,” explained Mathabathe.
“The 33 workers, who are bus drivers, then approached the management regarding their status, but the management couldn’t give them a clear response as to whether they had been dismissed or not,” lamented Mathabathe.
Mathabathe said that the 33 workers had reported for duty after receiving duty rooster and that even today all of them received duty rooster to report for work.
He said the presence of the 33 workers was not meant to disrupt any services at all but was merely aimed at reporting for work.
“It is therefore false that our members were trespassing,” said Mathabathe as he in the process explained that the troubles of the 33 bus drivers started in May this year when they pleaded with the management to provide them with security guards as they were being beaten up constantly by some residents of Lotus Gardens while on duty.
According to Mathabathe, their pleas fell on deaf ears and the workers embarked on a sit-in to press home their demand to be accompanied by security guards, but the management misinterpreted this gesture as a strike.
“We as the Union had a discussion with the management regarding the 33 bus drivers’ issue and the COO of the City of Tshwane assured that the matter us that this was now water under the bridge and urged us to always communicate with her directly to avoid disturbances in the future, so we are now surprised that our members were subsequently charged while we were still waiting for the COO to come back to us regarding the issue of providing bus drivers with security guards,” said Mathabathe.
“Based on the aforementioned factors, the dismissal of our members therefore becomes unlawful,” he said.
Mathabathe bemoaned the fact that though other members of a rival union had also been charged together with SAMWU members, charges against those who belong to a rival union were withdrawn inexplicably after allegedly being issued with final written warnings.
This after apparently admitting guilt before they could even appear at a disciplinary hearing.
He said their members were subjected to a hearing and subsequently found guilty and dismissed just because they refused to plead guilty like members of a rival union.
“We are ready to sit down with the management of the City of Tshwane and resolve this matter amicably, and I would like to assure you that our members are disciplined at all times and not disruptive at all,” he said.
“We have a new political administration in Tshwane, and we hope that they will look at this matter and realise that it is tantamount to unfair dismissal,” said Mathabathe as he apologised to commuters for any inconvenience they may have suffered as a result of the non-availability of buses at some routes last week.
He confirmed that all bus drivers are back at work and that only routes that are serviced by the dismussed 33 bus drivers would suffer.
“It would be in the interest of the community that these kinds of challenges are resolved speedily,” he said.
“I suffer a lot during the disruption bus strike last week and i bought a monthly ticket and i had to make a plan to come to work.
I had to go and borrowed money for taxi that I never budgeted for, and I want to tell the city to fix their mess and not to leave us in a limbo because they won’t refund me my money for taxi,” said commuter Godfrey Mahlomola.