[DEBATE] : KouKamma anti-Transkei xenophobia update

[Russell]

This is the municipality where the SAMWU leadership recently demanded that
people from Transkei should not be employed by the council and should be
kicked out
 Hence I suppose, the stress ‘now’ on the fact that “the support
of the entire community
 Black, coloured and white sectors” has been
received for the strike. Not however clear if the ‘community’ includes
people from Transkei.

 

***

 

Janine Oelofse <mailto:oelofsej at avusa.co.za>  Garden Route Bureau Chief, The
Herald, 12 June 2008

 

 

THE community of KouKamma in the Eastern Cape has come out in support of 200
striking municipal workers who downed tools a month ago.

 

The workers, all members of the SA Municipal Workers‘ Union, started their
strike over what they felt was rampant corruption and nepotism in the
municipality, which covers the towns of Kareedouw and Joubertina.

 

“Samwu has now received the support of the entire community. Black, coloured
and white sectors are all appalled at the lack of service delivery in the
area and insist that the mayor (Noël O‘Connel) and municipal manager
(Mkhuseli Ndokweni) must step down,” Samwu branch secretary Ziziwe Zemela
said yesterday.

 

The union said qualified local workers were not short-listed for key posts
and instead managers were hired from distant areas.

 

“Service delivery is also nonexistent. The municipal offices have been under
renovation and unusable for months now, with computers not working,” Zemela
said.

 

One of the appointments the residents and workers feel unhappy about is that
of chief financial officer Fizile Gaushe and the remuneration package
awarded to his personal assistant, Phumelela Mgwetyana, who receives more
money than other employees on a the same salary scale.

 

In addition, the workers expressed dissatisfaction at a performance bonus of
over R61000 awarded to Ndokweni and had questions about the municipal
manager‘s 4x4 vehicle payments.

 

They also accused the mayor of using his official vehicle and driver when on
private business, costing the rate-payer overtime.

 

They were not happy with the issuing of credit and petrol cards for the
mayor, municipal manager and chief financial officer.

 

Other complaints included irregularities in the tendering process, a lack of
sanitation and a lack of street lights in the area.

 

They demanded a commission of enquiry into the affairs of the municipality.

 

“Despite the strike and the unhappiness of all sectors of the community,
KouKamma management is arrogantly refusing to meet with either the union or
the community. The community feels that this strike is no longer just a
Samwu issue,” Zemela said.

 

The KouKamma municipal offices and the Kouga municipality could not be
reached for comment.