The SA Municipal Workers' Union and the City of Cape Town are today set for a showdown over the quality of temporary jobs provided under the city's extended public works programme.

Mario Jacobs, Samwu's secretary in the Cape metro, said the union and a number of community organisations would take to the streets to protest against low wages.

"It is our view that the issue of quality jobs cannot be separated from quality services. It's no mystery why there are service delivery protests taking place across the province and the city," said Jacobs.

"Part of the problem is the lack of a political will to employ enough workers to ensure quality services are delivered to communities."

Jacobs said people employed through the Cape Town mayor's special project were paid R60 a day, while permanent staff earned up to R240 a day.

Andre Adams, Samwu's Western Cape secretary, accused mayor Patricia de Lille of using the programme to score political points.

"De Lille has blatantly lied to the residents of Cape Town, all in the name of political populism. The DA's announcement of job creation in the City of Cape Town is fake."

"It's nothing but a political trick and a shameful exploitation of the poor who are desperate for work and are prepared to work for peanuts. This amounts to nothing than using the poor as cheap labour. This is plain slavery," said Adams.

But the city said Samwu was barking up the wrong tree.

De Lille's spokesman, Solly Malatsi, said the extended public works programme was an initiative of the national government.

"If Samwu has reservations about the implementation of the programme, it must take its grievances to Pretoria," said Malatsi.

"The city has created temporary employment for 10 575 unemployed persons through the mayor's special jobs programme to provide temporary relief to unemployed people, mostly young people from poor areas."

He said the city had already spent up to R63-million on 218 projects.

The union said it would hand over its memorandum to deputy city manager Mike Marsden at the civic centre.