Samwu warns of more protests in Tshwane amid pay dispute
The South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) has warned the City of Tshwane to honour the wage agreement and pay the workers what is due to them.
The impasse between the city and the union comes after Tshwane failed to pay lump sums to workers on July 26.
In terms of the agreement, the City was supposed to have paid workers when the metro was accorded a Level 10 grade.
The agreement was backdated to 2017.
Samwu’s Gauteng provincial secretary Bafana Zungu says the failure to pay workers will only lead to more unrest.
"We heard stories about what happened to the money, where it went and we are told it is about R300 million that the management failed to manage. They used the money to pay SARS, not the workers, they used the money to pay medical aids and not the workers.”
The city, which has cited a lack of money as the reason for not honouring the wage agreement, recently obtained a court interdict against Samwu following protests by workers in the CBD and its Tshwane House headquarters.
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The arrests were confirmed by Samwu's regional secretary Mpho Meso on Monday. Meso also claims that protesters were shot and injured by police. "Three members of the South African Municipal Workers Union have been arrested. So far it is Mr Chris Mavunda, Papikie Mohale and Rachel Matsepe.