Public Works workers picket in Durban, demanding to be insourced

Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers in eThekwini municipality have been protesting since Friday to be insourced by the City. Photo: Tsoanelo Sefoloko / GroundUp

Dozens of Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers in eThekwini municipality are gathering outside the City Hall in Durban on Tuesday. They are demanding to be insourced by the municipality after they were allegedly told their contracts would no longer be renewed at the end of this month.

On Monday chaos ensued outside the Atram community hall in the city center after word spread that the municipality had put out a call for job seekers. When protesting workers arrived, they found a long line of people waiting to submit their CVs as well as human resource officials.

This angered the workers, who on Friday, participated in a mass march against the termination of their contracts, some of which had been extended for 10 years.

Some workers said they have been on month-to-month, while others have had six-month contracts, which were renewed repeatedly for 10 years. They have protested and raised this issue several times, demanding to be employed permanently.

On Monday, Sibongile Shange was among the EPWP workers who rushed to the hall. She said she has been cleaning the streets next to South Beach for 13 years but has to sign a new contract almost every month.

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“I really don’t understand why they are not hiring us because it is clear that they need our services. How can they say the reason that they are not renewing our contract is because the City doesn’t have the budget to employ us?” asked Shange.

Silindile Khumalo, regional secretary of Municipal and Allied Trade Union of South Africa (Matusa), said: “We decided to come and prevent people who were here doing interviews. On Friday we asked to hand over the memorandum and we are still waiting for the response.”

Khumalo said they had a mass protest in October last year to raise the issue with the municipality, to which they are yet to get a response.

Asked whether the City would be hiring people to do the same jobs as the EPWP workers, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said she would not discuss internal matters with the media.

She added, “Service delivery projects will be implemented in accordance with the detailed budget which was approved by Council for the 2024/25 financial year. This budget is in line with the City’s Integrated Development plan.”

This article was originally published on GroundUp.

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