Employees at the Northern Cape Legislature were picketing outside the Provincial Legislature building in Kimberley on Wednesday. They were voicing their frustrations about poor management and that their monthly salary payment was delayed.
The workers are saying that the legislature is falling apart.
The Northern Cape Legislature employees say their building and place of work is unsafe. They claim electrical cables are not secured, water is leaking from the bathrooms and walls are cracked.
On top of their complaints is the non-payment of their monthly salary that is usually paid on the 15 of every month.
“We are really unhappy with this situation because if anything should happen to us or one of the families and one of us have to go to the doctor what are we going to do if our medical aids have not been paid,” says one of the workers.
Another says; “Instead of addressing the matter they decided to use the back gate which according to me means they are ignoring our pledge and we need our salaries, we’ve got other things to pay.”
National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) says that these demonstrations will not end unless the situation changes.
“From our side as a union, we will continue demonstrating in this fashion until our salaries are paid up. And further more, we also demand from our employer to cover the interests of our debit orders that are bouncing, so that is our position for now. We will continue up until we receive our salaries,” says Nehawu spokesperson, Ntsikelelo Tshandu.
Provincial Secretary of the legislature says lack of internal resources and the change of payment systems are the cause of the problem.
“During the month of April, we experienced problems when employees were actually being paid. Remember that on the 10th of April employees were standing outside not wanting to come inside indicating some safety issues that we are currently addressing. The glitches of the new system and the lack of resources internally, we were not able to pay salaries on time,” says Provincial Secretary of the Legislature, Boitumelo Moopelo.
The workers say the legislature needs to get its act together before they can return to work.
