RUBBISH is piling up in Umlazi, south of Durban, after contract workers downed tools because they want to be employed permanently.
Workers blocked rubbish trucks at A section dumping sites, demanding that the municipality give them permanent contracts.
One of the workers told Daily Sun they decided to stop refuse collection because eThekwini Municipality was fooling them about their permanent contracts.
The worker said they have been working for six months but the municipality was still not explaining why it had not employed them permanently.
Another worker said another reason they were striking is because the municipality gave permanent contracts to people who are not from Umlazi.
She said they wanted to know when they will be emplyed permanently because their contracts end on Monday.
“When the municipality announced last year that it was taking over rubbish collection, it also announced that it will insource all the workers who were working for contractors. But then it hired people from outside Umlazi who never worked as contractors before,” said the worker.
She said unless the municipality hires them permanently, there will be no work done in Umlazi.
Councillor Thanduxolo Sabelo, head of the municipality’s infrastructure department, said he is aware that there are contract workers who disrupted rubbish collections because their contracts end on Monday. He said he has told workers that they will be considered for new posts when they become available.
Sabelo addressed the issue of workers who were given permanent contracts but not living in Umlazi. He said posts were advertised for everyone to apply and successful candidates were hired.
