MK Party’s Gauteng Provincial Spokesperson Abel Tau has vowed that his party will support disgruntled City of Tshwane Municipality workers in their plight against the Municipality.
Their plight stems from failure by the City of Tshwane to pay them outstanding salary increases and the dismissal of 41 workers.
The workers had planned to stage a picket at the headquarters of the Municipality, Tshwane House on Monday but they were informed at the eleventh hour that the picket had been declared illegal and as a result they couldn’t continue with their demonstration at Tshwane House.
“The workers reached out to us as MK Party and asked us to come to the picket and support them and it is disappointing that last year the EFF was calling for the reinstatement of dismissed workers and the payment of outstanding salaries, but today the EFF members are travelling in blue light vehicles and don’t want to meet the workers and are part of a set-up that has declared the workers’ picket illegal,” lamented Tau.
“The same applies to the ANC, who used to say they stand with the workers but today they are travelling in blue light vehicles as well and don’t care about the plight of the workers,” said Tau.
He said MK Party’s support to the workers is simply the right thing to do as workers must be given what is due to them as there is an agreement in place in this regard.
“If as a country we get to a situation whereby agreements are not worth the paper they are written on, then we are entering a dangerous space as a people and if as a people we fail to stand up for what is just, then we are not going anywhere,” he said.
He revealed that in December last year City of Tshwane Councillors got salary increases yet the workers received nothing in this regard.
“It can’t be correct that the poor workers should serve as collateral for poor decisions made by the City of Tshwane Municipality,” he enthused.
“As MK Party we have officially entered the fray on the side of the disgruntled workers and we will make a fresh application and mobilise properly for a picket in the near future,” explained Tau.
Tau made it clear that when MK Party takes over control of the City of Tshwane Municipality after the 2026 local government elections, they want to inherit the critical skills that are possessed by some of the disgruntled workers and also that they want to inherit Municipal infrastructure that is in working order and therefore the demands of the workers must be met to avoid a situation whereby the said infrastructure would be burnt down.
Convener of the Concerned Tshwane Workers Forum Themba Nkabinde expressed disappointment that Head of Human Resources Robert Oppelt has informed them that the workers’ picket is illegal and also threatened them that anyone who would take part in the picket would face the consequences.
He said this threat by Oppelt is outrageous as workers who were going to take part in the picket were the ones who were either on ” rest day” or day off while others were the ones who have been dismissed by the City of Tshwane and are no longer the City’s employees.
He stressed that Oppelt is abusing his powers and acts like a law unto himself.
He said due to the intimidating message sent to them by Oppelt regarding possible dismissal, they have decided to call off the picket so that they can be on the safe side and not lose their jobs.
But Nkabinde said they as workers will seek legal advice regarding Oppelt’s decision to stop them from picketing.
“It is unfortunate that unions that are supposed to protect us are failing to do so, and we shall decided as to whether we must form a new union to represent us or not,” lamented Nkabinde.
Deputy Convener Sekete Mokobane explained that the dismissed workers suffered their fate under the previous City of Tshwane administration after being dismissed for taking part in an unprotected strike.
He appealed to both Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya and Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise to reconsider their stance on the issue of outstanding salary increases and the dismissal of the 41 workers.