Tshwane employees at risk of not being paid, claims Samwu
The City of Tshwane has denied claims by the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) that the salaries of some 7000 workers will not be paid on time in August.
The union says the city’s acting manager Mmaseabata Mutlaneng has recalled the salaries of almost 7000 employees due to an ongoing verification process.
Tshwane embarked on a verification process in August to rid its payroll of “ghost employees”.
But the union’s regional chairperson Mpho Tladinyane says not enough time was given to verify the status of more than 25 000 of the city’s employees.
“The employer had initially agreed to pay all workers on 26 August and finalise the verification process before the September pay run.
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“The city has however reneged on this consensus between parties and informed unions on Friday that over 7000 individuals who are on the city’s payroll will not be receiving their August salaries, as they have not been verified yet.”
City of Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo has disputed the claim, saying the verification process is only meant to filter out “ghost employees”.
"The recalling of salaries will not be done willy-nilly. From time to time the city embarks on an employee verification process.
“This means that the employer needs to know who is in the employ of the organisation and do these people report for duties on a daily basis. Do they carry out their duties as expected? Put simply, the process is to get rid of remunerating ghost workers.”
Tladinyane says workers who are not paid their salaries by Wednesday should stand up to the city and demand payment.
“These employees must stand up and demand their salaries from the city manager. The law says if you have provided a service you must get paid.”