The already low-earning City of Tshwane Municipality Meter readers employed by labour- brokers Rihati will go into the Christmas festive season and beyond with a mere thirty cents (30c) increase to their wages.
And to add the proverbial insult into injury, their employer Rihati Utility Services, has expressed joy and satisfaction about the paltry 30 cents increase.
Rihati describes the increase in glowing terms like “generous” and “significant.”
In a statement sent to Tshwane Talks via email, Rihati, whose holding company is Ntiyiso which has huge multi-million rand tenders and contracts with the City of Tshwane Municipality in various areas, gleefully said the following:
“Our increase is 4,6 times above inflation rate, which is currently at 3,4% and furthermore, our increase is 3,54 times above the 2025 wage settlement which is at 4,4%.”
The statement continues as follows:
“Our employees have received the 15,6% increase for the year 2025 and this has increased their income significantly.”
It worth noting that despite all the percentage figures bandied about by Rihati, the bottom line here is that the said increase amounts to thirty cents increase for every meter that the workers manage to read.
The Meter readers said in some cases they are unable to read as many meters as they would like to read on any given day or month due to circumstances which are not of their own making.
These circumstances include locked household and business premises, menacing dogs that bite them, hostile community members and rainfall.
The less meters a worker manages to count, the less money they would earn come pay-day.
The workers get paid R2,50 cents for every meter that they manage to read and the increase means they will henceforth be earning a lowly R2,80c per every meter that they manage to read.
“We are not satisfied at all about the pittance that we get from Rihati,” said one Meter reader who asked to remain anonymous.
“Rihati doesn’t want to admit that the original entry-level R2,50 cents payment for every meter that we read is disgustingly very low; that an increase of 30 cents is horribly insignificant,” he fumed.
Now apparently unashamed of making a profit out of cheap labour and taking credit for the hard work that was actually performed by the underpaid Meter readers, Rihati’s statement to Tshwane Talks continues as follows:
“We have noticed an increase in productivity and morale is at an all time high and our client (City of Tshwane Mayor) is very happy that we have increased revenue for the City of Tshwane Municipality.”
The statement, released by Rihati’s Chief Operations Officer Hopolang Mabaso asserts the following:
“City Mayor Dr Moya has also cited the fact that the debtors book has decreased by 20% or R7 billion and the increase we have given the workers is in recognition of the sterling work that they (the meter readers) have put in.”
But the Meter readers who spoke to Tshwane Talks opine that the 30 cents increase is very small by any standards and this is a strange way anyone would show appreciation for a job well done.
In the statement Mabaso goes on to say Rihati continues to look for ways to keep employees happy and growing their skills for new opportunities, but the sad truth is many of Rihati meter readers are not happy with their wages, including the 30 cents increase.
“We are glad that our employees have embraced this increase and we are looking forward to a better future for all of us,” read the statement in conclusion.
But then again the Meter readers say they can’t wait to be freed from the shackles of labour brokers Rihati and be insourced into the permanent workforce of the City of Tshwane where they say that’s where they belong.
Earlier this year many Rihati meter readers were fired from their jobs after taking the bold decision to abandon their posts in order to engage City of Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya right at her offices at the Tshwane House, demanding to be absorbed as permanent City of Tshwane workers with all the attendant benefits.
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