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The Alfred Duma (Ladysmith) Municipality has been dealing with some heated action from Municipal Security over the past two days. The security staff have locked the gates to the various government buildings.
According to the Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Manager, Siyabonga Maphalala, “the Council noted with dismay the actions of the Municipal Security, who have chosen to lock municipal gates from 9 March 2022 and continue with their actions on Thursday, 10 March 2022.”
Their protest action sees them preventing employee access at the Public Participation Section, Operation Sukuma Sakhe, Public Safety and Emergency Services, Community Services and Technical and Infrastructure Department, respectively, all of whom cannot access their Departmental sites and offices.
“Council can confirm that a meeting was convened with the Labour Union SAMWU and the Municipal Security Section immediately after their illegal closure of municipal access gates in the affected sections and departments mentioned above,” Maphalala stated.
Arising from the deliberations and engagements, the Alfred Duma Municipality highlighted that the root cause of the strike was due to Municipal Security Guards’ contracts being terminated by the municipality, as per their contractual agreement between the employer and the individual employee.
Furthermore, the Municipal Management confirmed that there is already an existing Labour Court process where the Municipal Security appointed an external Legal Representative. Their matter has been processed by the Bargaining Council, with findings and a ruling in the form of a Settlement Agreement.
The municipality did affirm that it is prepared to adhere to the contents thereof for the awarded employees.
“At this stage the municipality cannot engage further on this matter except through Labour Court presentations as opted and chosen by the Municipal Security Guards who were appointed on a contractual basis by the municipality,” Maphalala explained.
Additionally, advising all municipal employees to distance themselves from the ongoing municipal security guards strike and apply precautionary measures when performing their duties until the situation is restored to normal.
The municipal properties will remain on high alert at this stage, and the SAPS has been deployed to monitor the situation.
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