THE National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) alleged that Putco is dumping kak at a residential area in Soweto.
It's alleged that the bus company forces workers to use portable toilets, which are emptied next to a depot in Nancefield, Soweto as part of the alleged mistreatment against suspended workers.
Numsa provided the media with a video where a man can be heard complaining that they (Putco) are dumping kak where they live.
“They are dumping feaces where we live. Why don’t they take this somewhere else? Our very own feaces is dumped here so we can smell it,” said the man in the video.
Numsa spokeswoma Phamkamile Hlubi-Majola said Putco is treating workers like animals because it does not allow them to use decent toilets.
“Previously, they made them use bucket toilets and then later changed them because Numsa complained. We have also seen disturbing video footage of the portable toilets.
"Our members at the depot in Nancefield in Soweto are alleging that Putco empties out the portable toilets in an open field a few meters from where they are forced to live, and this is in a residential area. It seems it's illegally dumping waste material in a residential area and because of the heat, the stench of the waste is permanently in the air,” she said.
Hlubi-Majola said this affects their members and the surrounding community.
ALSO READ | How Christina went missing for days
“All of this is done because Putco refuses to allow these workers to use decent toilets in the building. If this allegation is true, then this is a gross violation of dignity and it shows the level of disdain that Putco has for African workers and the community of Soweto at large because it allegedly dumping faeces very close to where they live,” she said.
But Putco media liaison manager, Lindokuhle Xulu said their investigation revealed that the mobile toilets depicted in the video were reported as faulty with a water leak and did not contain any human waste.
“At the time the video was taken on Sunday, 18 February, the service provider had just delivered a new unit and was transporting the leaking one out of the depot. A formal report by the external service provider explains that the driver was draining the remaining water from the faulty unit to make it safe while driving before removing it from our premises,” said Xulu.
