Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers contracted to Pikitup and affiliated to the Democratic Municipal and Aligned Workers Union of South Africa (DEMAWUSA) on Monday handed over a memorandum of demands to the office of Joburg Mayor, Dada Morero.
The frustrated group of workers have accused the waste management company of unfair recruitment practices and nepotism with some of its officials alleged to have hired their family members and girlfriends.
On Monday these workers took to the streets of Braamfontein to demand of an end to the hiring of alleged bogus contractors while demanding permanent insourcing of their work in the city adding that the city’s waste tendering system is flawed as it has resulted in tenderpreneurs pocketing millions while they earn less than R120 a day.
Speaking during the protest, Liso Mtshiyo an EPWP worker who has worked for more than two years claimed that some Pikitup officials only consider their relatives when permanent posts are advertised, resulting in many of them losing out on opportunities.
“We have a problem here in that there are people who have been employed by Pikitup through nepotism and cronyism while some of us who have been working and cleaning the streets have been ignored,” he said.
Another affected worker, Puleng Nkutha who has been an EPWP worker since 2017, said she only survives on three to six months contracts and once this contract is over, she has to look for new opportunities in order to feed her family.
“As a mother of three, how do I survive and pay rent earning just R2 400, yet I have been working on a contract basis for this long. I am forced to hustle in order to pay rent which is more than R2 400 a month because these people instead of in-sourcing us, they bring their people from outside the province to take our jobs. We want Pikitup to consider us for permanent positions,” she said.
DEMAWUSA national chairperson, Meshack Ntshauba accused Pikitup of contracting unregistered contractors who exploit workers for their own gains. He said whenever these contractors are needed to address the workers, they do so under the trees and in public spaces, simply because they do not comply with labour laws.
“We want Pikitup to permanently absorb these workers who are earning less than the prescribed minimum wage. Why is the city not employing them on a permanent basis because the cleaning of the city is permanent. We also want an independent forensic investigation to look into the unregistered and unaccounted for contractors who are not even registered with the CIPC and the department of labour. Why is Pikitup spending millions of rands contracting companies with no proper records and office spaces,” he said.
Regional chairperson for ActionSA in the City of Joburg, Sello Mabelebele called on Pikitup and the City of Joburg to stop the exploitation of workers saying the party stands in solidarity with the affected workers in their fight for fair employment practices.
Responding to the allegations, Pikitup spokesperson, Muzi Mkhwanazi revealed that with the recruitment process currently underway, it was premature to speculate over the merits of this process.
"The recruitment process is currently being finalised. Therefore, it is premature to conclude that the process deliberately omitted a certain group of applicants. The process has been outsourced to a recruitment consultant to precisely manage and mitigate any possible influence or control by internal officials, including executives.
"The truth or accuracy of the allegations cannot be confirmed, as the process has yet to be finalised."
On the allegations regarding some of its alleged bogus contractors, Mkhwanazi said the waste management utility would not be able to conclusively comment as they have various service providers, therefore, evidence must be brought forward on these allegations.
"Pikitup conducts business with a number of service providers in different facets of the business. As such, it is impossible to address these allegations without sufficient details about which contracts are being referenced. Despite this, Pikitup’s Supply Chain Management processes are effective enough to detect such discrepancies. Therefore, the allegation is without merit," he added.