New Ekurhuleni mayor faces first protest

The mayor of Ekurhuleni Mzwandile Masina is facing a protest from a group of disgruntled young people whose contracts under the Expanded Public Works Programme will be terminated in November.

The group has been beneficiaries of the government’s short-to-medium term programme aimed at alleviating and reducing unemployment since 2014.

"We have received letters signed by liaison officers notifying us that our contracts will be terminated in November. During the (election) campaign Masina made promises that he will make our contracts permanent."

"He (Masina) might not have signed the letters‚ but as a political head in Ekurhuleni he knows the hardship we face once the contracts are terminated. We intend to march to his office to remind him that we are destitute‚" said one of the beneficiaries.

City of Ekurhuleni spokesman‚ Themba Gadebe said the contracts were operational until November.

"The training that has so far been given to the EPWP participants is on Occupational Health and Safety. The metro has made arrangements for additional training on Basic Waste Management to take place during the October/November months‚"" said Gadebe.

He denied that there were promises made that the contracts would be made permanent positions.

"The programme is based on contractual agreement between the city and the participants and no permanent promises were made at any given stage."

He said there was no official notification for the termination of the contract that has been issued.

"The normal practice is that a month before the expiry of the contract the metro will issue a notification to the participants‚ which in this case will be during the October month."