Waste management employees in Tshwane Region 2 downed tools today to embark on a peaceful march to hand over a memorandum of their grievances at Temba Urban Council.
Workers complained about un-roadworthy trucks, lack of safety at work, having to work as sub-contracts since 2012 and late payments by their various employers.
They said they work without safety clothing such as work suit, safety boots, dust masks and hand gloves and said this is dangerous to their health.
Mr Tshepo Meyi, who spoke on behalf of the workers, said they had been complaining about their unsafe working conditions but their employers do not take them serious and now a second colleague has died due to poor working conditions.
“We have been asking for safety clothing and our employers do not take us serious. One of our colleague died yesterday at Potion 9 after being electrocuted by a cable, which he was lifting for the truck to pass. One other colleague died in 2016 due to ill health bringing the number of colleagues who died to two.
“The owner of the company did not even bother to come on site to see how fatal the accident was, that is how careless they are because after he was informed his response was that, as long as the truck was ok he has nothing to worry about,” Said Mr Meyi.
Workers further complained of working as contractors since 2012 and believes that by now they should be hired on a permanent basis under the City of Tshwane.
“We are not registered with the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA), which compensates workers who might have been injured, or contract diseases while on duty.
“We are also not registered with the Department of Labour as we are contractors. This means if we get fired or one of us passes on like our two colleagues, we have lost because since 2016, we have been contractors as such we will not get any compensation,” He said.
“We believe our colleague who died of ill health was due to the diseases he contracted while working without being provided a safety mask.
“We are also underpaid and we have to beg for our wages always when pay day arrives,” Said Mr Meyi.
Mr McDonalds Kiswa, manager at Ntshadi Holdings, the employer of the deceased said the matter of the death of the employee who died yesterday was still under investigation and the company is yet to inform the Department of Labour about the accident.
He said he could not comment on the matter of the two employees lost to the company as it was beyond his job as a manager.
He further said workers are still sub-contractors because they as the employers are service providers to the City of Tshwane.
“The City renews their contracts annually and this makes it impossible for us to hire workers permanently.
“We are going to the bereaved family to offer our condolences and see how we can assist to give our brother a dignified burial,” Said Mr Kiswa.
After the workers handed over a memorandum, they held a meeting that lasted for three hours discussing the death of their colleague and how they were going to assist the family.
It was also agreed that a follow up meeting to discuss the issues on the memorandum will be held next week in order to allow the burial of the colleague to pass.