When both the mayor and the municipal manager of the Makhado Municipality were at the scene of the fatal accident at Luvhalani on Monday morning, little did they know that municipal workers were on strike.

The rendering of services came to a halt at the ANC-led municipality after members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) intensified their demands to be divorced from the National Fund for Municipal Workers (NFMW).

NFMW is commonly known as a 2+2% group insurance fund under Sanlam.

Samwu members were demanding that the municipality had to stop deducting money from their salaries to contribute to the group insurance fund with immediate effect.

Workers were also demanding to be refunded by the municipality for all their money for the period in which the group insurance fund deductions came into effect on their respective salaries.

Samwu members are strongly accusing the director of corporate services, Mr Vic Viljoen, for masterminding the introduction of the 2+2% group insurance fund against their will. "Viljoen is the one who initiated this group insurance fund without our consent," said Samwu members.

Mirror can reveal that deductions from the salaries of the majority of workers came into effect in July 2002. The union leadership was engaged in a marathon meeting with the management from early in the morning until lunch. Workers were sitting in groups at the municipal workshop but eagerly waiting for a positive response.

At 14:00, municipal manager Ms Faith Muthambi, executive council members Cllr Thanyani Mudau and Cllr Lindiwe Lowani Hlungwane went to the municipal workshop to address the angry workers for about three hours. Workers told Muthambi that Viljoen had to be dismissed at the municipality. They also demanded to be paid back their deducted money immediately. "We want our money now because we’ve already planned on how we are going to use it. The biggest problem is that this municipality is in the hands of former educators. They want to treat us like children," complained Samwu members.

Cllr Thanyani Mudau told workers that dismissing Viljoen without formal charges will cost the municipality a lot of money. "If we do that, it would be unfair dismissal and we don’t want to make Viljoen rich with the taxpayers’ money.

"We’ve been seeking a solution for this matter for some time. At one stage, we invited representatives from the NFMW to our meeting wherein they indicated clearly to us that paying back the money would be a mission impossible for them. They were prepared to take the matter to the High Court, but as council we agreed to seek other solutions." When Muthambi told workers that the only solution to the matter was to make provision for R10 million in the budget of the next financial year in July, the angry workers told her to borrow money from the bank.

"Let us be fair and realistic, I cannot go to the bank to loan money to pay you back. People, I am a lawyer by profession and your demand is totally against the law. You will get your money in July this year. That’s it," she said. Muthambi further promised workers that deductions will be cancelled as from this month.

The chairperson of the local branch of Samwu, Mr Sydney Rabakali, said that workers view the group insurance fund as a garnish. Rabakali said that his union took the matter to the bargaining council and they’ve recently received an arbitration award. He said that the award dictates that the municipality must pay back their money.