The City of Cape Town is committed to a fair, professional, safe and conducive environment for employees to develop their full potential, while at the same time serving our residents with dedication and integrity.
The City of Cape Town notes the march and subsequent statement issued by the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) on Saturday, 23 November 2019.
‘SAMWU’s statement contains several untruths which, for the most part, want to create the impression that the City will not be able to cope with the demands of the festive season. I want to reassure residents and visitors to Cape Town that their safety is a top priority and that the administration will do everything possible to ensure that we meet the demands and expectations that are associated with this time of the year.
‘The City rejects the facile allegations of corruption by SAMWU, challenging it to present evidence instead of resorting to the constant defamation of the City in its sustained campaign towards ungovernability. Cape Town has been at the forefront of driving innovative solutions in the public safety space which many municipalities across South Africa have either copied or sent delegations to explore. There is no lack of effective leadership or decisive management in Cape Town.
‘The City also rejects the false statements by SAMWU relating to posts that are being created for management, or that there is a preoccupation with restructuring. This may well be happening in administrations where SAMWU is part of the governing coalition, but we challenge SAMWU to present evidence of this in Cape Town. The Safety and Security Directorate has in fact not undergone any restructuring, even when ODTP was undertaken by the City.
‘What the City of Cape Town is preoccupied with, is ensuring that we comply with legislation and the policies of the City, which includes the maximum overtime that staff may legally work. However, during the festive season, provision and authority is obtained for staff to work additional overtime which is specifically provided for in the budget. Further capacity was bolstered by the significant amount of additional overtime budget provided by the Mayor recently. SAMWU’s statements in relation to the amount of overtime that may be worked is therefore completely false.
‘Our annual Festive Season Plan encompasses all aspects of safety, including safety at beaches and public open spaces during the festive season. This plan is implemented in conjunction with the South African Police Service and other emergency services,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
SAMWU makes several accusations in the statement which the City is at liberty to correct:
We have engaged with employees within the law enforcement environment about the T-grade structure and are willing to consider the post levels. Should the assessment determine that the post gradings need to be adjusted in lieu of the increased range of functionality of the Law Enforcement officers, the revised gradings would have significant financial implications for the City which would then need to be considered.
Law Enforcement Officers from the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) form part of the City’s job creation and skills development programme. The EPWP initiative is driven by national government and the City has excelled in ensuring that it is deployed to its maximum ability to alleviate poverty through job creation. The intention of this programme is to empower the workers with the necessary skills for future contract and permanent law enforcement employment opportunities at the City, and other municipalities. In recent years this has acted as a springboard for many aspirant law enforcement staff to achieve permanent employment through this skills development intervention. Furthermore, the City has engaged with SAMWU in October 2018 and October 2019 where we have informed the union that EPWP job opportunities are temporary in nature and that this category of workers can apply for permanent positions, same as other members of the public.
All Law Enforcement Officers are issued with protective clothing and equipment as stipulated by the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The City’s disciplinary procedures are applied without prejudice or favour. The outrageous claims by SAMWU relating to the alleged manner in which a particular disciplinary case was dealt with are false and demonstrate the extent of bad faith in which SAMWU operates and the extent to which they are willing to place political agendas before the interests of the union members.
The City’s recruitment process allows for directorates to advertise positions internally to ensure the natural progression of staff where applicable, and where this will advance employment equity. In this regard SAMWU is very late to the party, as the City has been advertising Law Enforcement posts internally for years to allow contract and EPWP staff, as well as Auxiliary volunteer officers, first option on such vacancies to ensure that they are given the opportunities for career-pathing and development and to ensure that we recruit staff with a demonstrated passion for policing and their communities. The fact that SAMWU either does not know this or chooses to conceal it, again speaks to their bad faith.
The dispute with the Fire and Rescue Service was resolved through an interim agreement whereby all firefighters agreed to honour their scheduled shift and overtime rosters until the Labour Court has made a ruling. This matter will be heard on Friday, 29 November 2019, and it is perplexing that SAMWU would make a statement around firefighters not working overtime when the matter has not even served before the Labour Court as yet. It must be noted that the very reason for the ongoing crisis is the fact that SAMWU abandoned the legal Labour Relations Act mediation process in favour of approaching the Labour Court some years ago and then never went to court, thereby trapping the City and the firefighters in an ongoing conflict of SAMWU’s making and depriving their members of the increased benefits the City had offered during that mediation process.
The Directorate of Water and Sanitation introduced a new shift system because employees worked excessive overtime. The City has a duty and responsibility to monitor this practice, and to cut excessive overtime in accordance with the administration’s needs and the available resources.
A small group of employees within the Directorate of Human Settlements was dismissed because they refused an instruction to relocate. SAMWU was informed in writing on 24 October 2019 that these employees were disciplined for serious misconduct and that they were subsequently dismissed. The employees’ appeal was unsuccessful and some of them are in the process of declaring disputes against the City. The City Manager assigns competent officials to attend to matters, this being one of them. SAMWU was informed on 12 November 2019 that complaints regarding disciplinary procedures should be raised at the appropriate forums for the appropriate presiding officers to make a final decision on the matter. The response to SAMWU was reasonable and did not prejudice them from their right to submit appropriate representations. SAMWU’s inference to the City Manager’s conduct is therefore misplaced and ill-founded.
The City only pays for overtime with prior approval. Should employees work for more than 40 hours a week without prior approval the occurrence will be investigated before payment is considered. This is to ensure that the City’s salary bill remains within the approved budget and that the City complies with national legislation regarding the maximum overtime staff are allowed to work.
‘SAMWU falsely claims that the EPWP officers deployed in various projects across the City are not peace officers. This is devoid of truth. In fact, the powers of these peace officers has been significantly increased by a decision of the National Minister earlier this year, which allows them to undertake many crime prevention functions to make our communities safer. One can only assume that SAMWU would prefer to see communities continuing to be the victims of crime while National Government fails to address the policing failures under their control (as SAMWU admits when they point out that this is a SAPS function).
‘The City will not stand by and watch communities continue to suffer at the hands of criminals and for this reason the City Council will be considering the approval of the Law Enforcement Advancement Project (LEAP) next week, which will see vast numbers of additional staff deployed across the City to compensate for grossly inequitable policing shortages inflicted on our citizens by National Government of which SAMWU is a coalition partner,’ added Alderman Smith.
Source: City Of Cape Town