Municipal workers’ Union Samwu is accusing the City of Cape Town of racism, biased application of its disciplinary processes and attacks on its shop stewards.
A group of union members handed over a memorandum at the Civic Centre, calling for among others, the intervention of the mayor and city manager in a case involving a traffic services supervisor, who is currently facing three disciplinary processes.
The union says members and shop stewards are being victimised.
“On top of being victimised as shop stewards, who else is going to want to become a shop steward when we are getting dismissed left, right and centre. And the other issue is around racism in the City of Cape Town, all we are saying to the mayor is that he needs to have an appetite to come and talk to us as labour so that we can deal with these issues and iron out all these issues that we are having with the City of Cape Town as shop stewards,” says Samwu Regional Deputy Secretary, Bridget Nkomana.
The union also highlighted a case, where it alleges that the city discouraged a senior traffic services supervisor, from bringing charges against his junior, based on race. The junior officer allegedly verbally abused the supervisor when he tried to break up a quarrel between the junior and a colleague.
“Immediately I phoned my supervisor that is also a White woman then that supervisor told me to write statements, we all wrote statements. I and my team member we gave it to her. Apparently they looked at it the following day my supervisor and the chief inspector traffic they called me into their office and in a way they were discouraging me and begging me not to take this complaint forward because this White traffic officer just bought a house, he just got a vehicle; his wife just gave birth, so they told me that if this goes forward he is going to be dismissed and what is going to happen,” says the supervisor, who requested that SABC News withholds his identity.
The City of Cape Town is denying the claims against it, saying its disciplinary processes are fair and free of any discrimination.
“We confirm that an incident of insubordination occurred during April 2020 whereby the employee’s senior failed to take proper disciplinary action against the staff member. The mentioned senior staff member is the same individual who lodged a complaint with Samwu, the individual is currently the subject of a disciplinary hearing for being insubordinate against line management on various occasions. The complainant’s disciplinary hearing in currently in progress,” says the City of Cape Town’s Luthando Tyhalibongo.
Samwu has also alleged that a senior law enforcement officer in Mitchells Plain was running a tuck-shop from council premises, with products taken from the warehouse where confiscated goods of informal traders were kept.
The city says the member has been found guilty of two charges and appropriately penalised, but that there has been no allegations, nor evidence that goods were taken from the Informal Trading Unit stores.
Samwu has given the city seven days to respond to its memorandum:
