'There will be no G20 in Gauteng, if salary disagreements are not resolved,' threatens Samwu

Under South Africa's presidency, the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) in Tshwane has threatened to disrupt the highly anticipated G20 Summit scheduled for Johannesburg in November, and they are not backing down.

In an effort to rally support from all Cosatu-affiliated unions, regional union secretary Donald Monakisi stated on Wednesday that Samwu is fighting the City of Tshwane's attempt to exempt itself from a collective bargaining agreement that includes salary increases of 3.5% for 2021 and 5.4% for 2023.

“We are still of the view that while our issues are not resolved, we are not going to have the G20,” he said.

Lehlogonolo Maphatsoe, the regional chairperson for Samwu, recently issued a warning that "there will be no G20 in Gauteng" unless the council reverses the 5% pay increase for council members.

He added that the union is working on a build-up programme to make Gauteng “ungovernable”. 

Maphatsoe vowed to confront the city, saying, “They have declared war and invited us into a boxing ring, and we've welcomed the invite. We'll meet them toe-to-toe.”

Monakisi said the International Day of Decent Work Activities were used by Cosatu in Gauteng to drum up support for a planned protest during the G20 Summit.

“Actually, even yesterday (Tuesday) that was part of our mobilisation. If you check throughout the province there were Cosatu campaigns and as much as it was a decent work day. It worked to mobilise towards our ultimate goal,” he said.

During the march, Gauteng Cosatu deputy chairperson Mogomotsi Seleke highlighted the ongoing dispute between the Samwu and Tshwane over salary increases. 

Seleke accused Tshwane of reneging on the agreement, pointing out the irony of the city council recently approving a 5% salary increase for councillors, while city workers await their own adjustments. 

Monakisi stated that the Tshwane union leadership would meet with leaders from other regions on Thursday to review progress made so far. 

“We went to the MEC (for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) with various issues, and until these issues are resolved, we cannot proceed with the G20,” he added.

He noted that Samwu in Tshwane is still dealing with issues related to dismissed workers following a violent strike, as well as pending salary increments, and to date, there has been no response.

“The mobilisation programme is moving very well. Cosatu will lead the mobilisation programme and we will assist,” he said.

Monakisi said that once Tshwane has a consolidated programme in place, it will be taken to the national Samwu organisation for buy-in, after which they will mobilise nearby provinces like Mpumalanga, Free State, and North West to participate and provide support.

“We can have world leaders converging in Gauteng whereas the same province has got issues and as workers of the province we will be the ones who are expected to make sure that the programme becomes a success. How can we perform optimally when our own issues are being ignored? We can't just stand by idly,” he said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za