Work and we'll kill you
eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo has condemned death threats against the municipality’s electricity department workers and metro staff.
|||Durban - eThekwini electricity department workers, who fear for their safety, are staying at their depots and not going out to work after receiving death threats last week.
A well-placed source said an aggressive group came to the south-western depot on Wednesday afternoon, intimidating security guards and forcing its way in.
The group demanded that from Thursday last week, management not let staff out of the facility on jobs and threatened to shoot dead anyone seen driving an electricity unit or Durban Metro vehicle.
Why the group was threatening the workers was unclear, but last month, the Sunday Tribune reported the same group had been involved in a dispute with the city, demanding they be given contracts.
eThekwini’s electricity department management has, apparently, told staff they could choose whether or not to go out on jobs, but that if they did, their safety was in their own hands.
The source said that on Friday, they were not at work.
The group – which said it was a local business forum – demanded to speak to the manager of the depot on Wednesday. The manager tried to defuse the situation and met three group members.
Others were told to wait outside.
But they became angry when they could not get hold of the electricity department’s head, Sandile Maphumulo, and promised to bring the city to a standstill if their demands were not heard by city management.
It was claimed that vehicles leaving the Chatsworth and Isipingo electricity depots last week were stoned. However, police spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, said no complaints had been received and no cases opened.
An Isipingo sub-station was burned down, apparently when a tyre was placed on top of it, doused with petrol and set alight. However this could not be confirmed on Sunday
The Daily News’s source said this could have been related to the intimidation.
The halt in work was believed to have created a backlog of uncompleted jobs across the city.
A spokesman for the business forum declined to comment, except to say that disruptions were spreading to other city departments, including water and sanitation and roads provision.
He would not say what the forum’s demands were and said members would be meeting the city this week.
City spokeswoman, Tozi Mthethwa, said the municipality was investigating attacks on city contractors and municipal officials.
She confirmed the attacks had had an adverse effect on service delivery. “The ongoing attacks, which last year claimed the life of one inspector, have had dire financial implications for the city, which is losing thousands of rand in stolen equipment and loss of productivity,” Mthethwa said.
She also said contractors were becoming reluctant to join the city’s database and that some of those who did, were too afraid to respond to emergencies at night, especially in problematic areas.
“The municipality relies on water and sanitation and electricity contractors for their expertise and to ensure that various communities around Durban are serviced regularly,” Mthethwa said.
The problem of contractors being assaulted, attacked and sometimes killed started in late 2014 when some local residents picketed and blockaded municipal vehicles, demanding that they be hired. The pickets soon escalated and took on a criminal nature, when work equipment and personal belongings were stolen.
Contractors have since had their cellphones, municipal vehicles, generators, grass cutters, water pumps and other equipment stolen.
Last year the city held a meeting with the disgruntled individuals, who presented their grievances.
eThekwini mayor, James Nxumalo, has condemned the violence directed at contractors and urged residents and business people to engage with the city and not resort to threats and violence.
Daily News