THE 130 City of Joburg employees will get to keep their jobs after they took the City to the labour court over the ‘termination’ their employment contracts.
On Friday the Labour Court heard the matter of the employees who were served with termination notices after the City’s 25 January Council resolution.
Judge Connie Prinsloo ruled in the favour of the employees.
South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) Regional Secretary Thobani Nkosi said in a statement, “We are pleased that a competent court of law has once again ruled against DA’s led government racist and narcissistic conduct. This ruling comes as no surprise to us, as the union representing the affected employees, we’ve always maintained that decision to convert our members from contract to permanent was in line and within the confines of the country’s constitution and labour laws.”
Nkosi said as early as December 2021, a few weeks after the DA-led government took office, the city started experiencing shortcomings in how the political executive city was dealing with labour relations matters, at best expedient and at worst mischievous.
He added, “These shortcomings became clear in how the city handled the COJ130 matter. Furthermore, these shortcomings included cancellation of medical aids without employees' concern, demanding tools of the trade and sending heavily armed Johannesburg Metropolitan Police (JMPD) to the private residence of our members.”
SAMWU said on the city’s government to respect the constitution, Labour Relations Act as amended, Basic Conditions of Employment Act as amended and other workplace-related laws.
Nkosi said, “It is extremely disturbing to observe how the DA has willfully chosen to fight its political battles with its opponents through vulnerable workers, the majority of whom are not even politically aligned.
“It will also be beneficial to the DA to stop wasting resources by using the services of several law firms when the opinion obtained doesn’t support their agenda. The City itself has an entire Legal and Contracts department staffed by experienced legal advisors with institutional memory.”
