The ANC and its alliance partners in KwaZulu-Natal have decided to intervene in the ongoing labour unrest at the Ray Nkonyeni local municipality.
This as the municipal workers on the province’s South Coast have engaged in prolonged protest action since October over unpaid wages and salary-grading disagreements.
ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo explained the background to the standoff during a media briefing with alliance partners the SACP, Cosatu and Sanco on Wednesday. He said the impasse between the municipality and the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu), affiliated to Cosatu, originated from the 2016 amalgamation of Hibiscus Coast and Ezinqoleni municipalities into the Ray Nkonyeni municipality.
The status of the municipality was raised from grade 4 to 5. A review of the municipality’s upper limits of renumeration for senior management, heads of departments (HODs), as well as the municipal manager, was then conducted in 2021, and salaries were upgraded to grade 5.
A pay-harmonisation process to standardise their salaries to meet the new grading process was then conducted, since others were still compensated at different levels after the amalgamation.
An arbitration ruling on the matter said the workers must be placed in category 5 and receive six months’ backpay, which the municipality opted to review at the labour court.
This decision led to the strike.
“It is true that labour accepts the employer's right to review the ruling — but on the other hand, workers have expressed unhappiness. They feel that the same process was implemented unhindered for HODs, but now that it is their turn, the process is hamstrung,” said Mtolo.
Efforts to mediate on this over the past three months have largely proved fruitless.
We were disappointed after that meeting that there was no solution by the MEC, because you can’t just call the stakeholders and say you’re coming to listen and will return after two weeks whereas the problem has been existing [for a long time]
— Edwin Mkhize, Cosatu provincial secretary,
Cosatu provincial secretary Edwin Mkhize said the federation has participated in some intervention efforts and is still involved in other processes that are unfolding since they are related to bargaining.
KZN Cogta MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi also met the different stakeholders on January 10 in the municipality, including ratepayers’ groups, business, traditional leadership and deputy mayor Sibusiso Shange.
Buthelezi gave a January 31 deadline to find an amicable solution, failing which he said the department would have to implement further interventions.
However, Mkhize said he was left unimpressed with Buthelezi’s efforts. He said they expected Buthelezi to have investigated the issues beforehand and come with possible solutions on the day of the meeting, considering that the strike had gone on for more than a month by then.
“After more than a month, he must have equipped himself about the issues and gone to address them,” he said. “Therefore we were disappointed after that meeting that there was no solution by the MEC, because you can’t just call the stakeholders and say you’re coming to listen and will return after two weeks, whereas the problem has been existing [for a long time].”
Explaining the process, Mtolo said: “The alliance partners have resolved to hold a Special Alliance Political Council meeting in Ray Nkonyeni local municipality. This will be attended by ANC regional officials of Tolomane Mnyayiza region, Ray Nkonyeni Troika and Samwu.
“We will get a proper briefing and decide on the way forward.”
The intervention will also have similar meetings with Umdoni municipality to try to resolve the matters of “instability” there, he said.
Meanwhile, the DA in Ray Nkonyeni has called for the dismissal and replacement of the negotiating team.
“We recommend replacing the current negotiating team with an external team, one which also consists of members of the executive, the team must then provide daily reports to a full council as to the status of negotiations,” said Leon Garbade, the DA’s chairperson in Ray Nkonyeni.
He called for the removal of mayor Zodwa Mzindle and municipal manager Khetha Zulu.
He said they had not made any headway in resolving the issues in the municipality, with just more than a week to the deadline Buthelezi gave.
“The municipality of Ray Nkonyeni needs a complete turnaround and this can only be accomplished by the removal of both the municipal manager and the mayor.
“Furthermore, the DA calls for a comprehensive review of the municipality’s financial and administrative practices to ensure it is equipped to provide essential services and meet the needs of its residents in future.”
Garbade called on Buthelezi to enforce the looming deadline and return on the day to implement a turnaround strategy.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.