MAKHADO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) – Mr James Sikhwari, local chairman of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) this week strongly reacted to the way in which their strike two weeks ago were portrayed in the media.

Mr Sikhwari stated that although the issue regarding the suspension of two Council officials, namely Mr J Moodie and Mr P Shrindza of the Electrical Department, was part of their reason for striking, the main reason for the strike was Council's failure to sit down with them and discuss grievances. This, he said, especially related to the findings of the Ad Hoc committee appointed last year to investigate allegations of nepotism and corruption within Council. Mr Sikhwari said the strike had nothing to do with the issue of race.

Mr Sikhwari pointed out several findings of the Ad Hoc committee, which was made public under a confidential item during the quarterly Council meeting in January. Among the findings were irregularities and nepotism in terms of employment policy and procedures; abuse of Council's loan or advanced policy; evidence of misappropriation of Council funds; non-adherence to credit control policy; irregularities in terms of the awarding of tenders; evidence on the selling of jobs by a Council employee; the non-existence of a clear policy for allowances for students doing in-service training or reservists; the inconsistence between the contracts of Section 55 and Section 56 employees (Municipal Manager and Directors) and the disappearance of official documents or records.

Following these findings, Council opted to appoint a legal team as a matter of urgency to deal with the alleged nepotism and corruption. In many of the findings of the Ad Hoc committee, the Municipal Manager, Mr Reuben Rambado is implicated.

Mr Sikhwari said that such a legal team was never appointed. Several of their grievances related to issues contained in the above mentioned findings of the Ad Hoc committee. Mr Sikhwari stated that they even went as far as to warn Council in writing of their intention to strike. Despite this, Mr Sikhwari said, Council refused to sit down with them and address the issue.

Regarding the subsequent illegal strike, Mr Sikhwari said: "Legal or illegal, what are we suppose to do when they refuse to talk to us."

During last week's quarterly Council meeting a decision was taken by Council that the matter of the appointment of a legal team should be held in abeyance as there are certain processes which are still pending. This came much to the dismay of Mr Sikhwari. In the mean time, negotiations are still in progress between the different parties. The issue of Mr Moodie and Mr Shirindza's suspension have also not been resolved. The issue looks sets to become a major headache for Council.