SAMWU says it 'prematurely' celebrated DA ousting in Tshwane

After growing frustrated with the current African National Congress-led administration in Tshwane, the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) says it 'prematurely' celebrated the removal of the Democratic Alliance (DA) from government.

At a media briefing on Friday, the COSATU-affiliated trade union said it is unhappy with some of the decisions or lack thereof taken by the current coalition government.

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This includes refusing to implement previously agreed-upon wage increases for municipal workers and the recent vote to increase councillor salaries by 5%.

When the Democratic Alliance-led coalition was removed from government through a motion of no confidence, Tshwane municipal workers were seen celebrating in the city’s headquarters.

However, eight months into the ANC-ActionSA and Economic Freedom Fighters-led coalition, the South African Municipal Workers Union said there hasn' been much else to celebrate.

The union's regional chairperson, Lehloholo Maphatsoe, said, "We want to put it before the residents of Tshwane that we prematurely celebrated this administration that is in charge now. When they came in last year, workers celebrated, including ourselves as a union. We are holding a view that here comes an administration that will reverse the decisions of the previous administration.

Decisions that were not pro-worker. Decisions that were not even biased towards the workers. So we celebrated them, but we hold a strong view now that there is nothing to celebrate about this administration."

The union has threatened another labour strike if the decision to increase councillor salaries by 5% is not reversed.