Pretoria - Ekurhuleni Metro has rejected accusations of unfair dismissal of seven municipal employees.
On Tuesday, municipal spokesperson Zweli Dlamini rebuffed claims made by the South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU), that their members were unfairly dismissed for allegedly blowing the whistle on tender corruption in the municipality.
"This municipality believes in good governance and good governance means accountability in the handling of public funds, and forever being on a high alert against malpractices and maladministration," said Dlamini.
A council meeting, held last March, was disrupted by shop stewards, leading to the meeting being postponed. This, said the municipality, constituted a serious act of misconduct. The shop stewards then assaulted the presiding officer during a disciplinarily committee.
"The decision to terminate the services of the seven employees was taken by the municipality following continuous disruptive behaviour by the defendants during the disciplinary hearing in the past 11 months. Things came to a head with Friday's assault incident," explained Dlamini.
According to the municipality, shop stewards tilted tables over and smashed the presiding officer's cell phone and the recording equipment against the wall. Metro police had to be called in to defuse the situation and they arrested two of the shop stewards.
Dlamini points out that the municipality is also aware of unauthorised general meetings that have been taking place within the metro, in an effort to mobilise workers to support the re-instatement of the dismissed shop stewards.
SAMWU regards the arrest of the shop stewards as "fabricated charges".
