The head of the Department for the Mpumalanga Public Works, Roads and Transport, Charles Morolo, was saved by police from almost being manhandled by unruly members of the trade union Nehawu.
This happened when the Nehawu members stormed into a boardroom at the department offices while Morolo was having a meeting with his office manager.
The escalation sets the stage for Thursday when Nehawu is bound to march to the office of the premier to deliver a memorandum of demands.
Second scuffle on the same day
An eyewitness of the boardroom scuffle described the conduct as that of “mercenaries” who are engaged in a path of self-destruction.
The scuffle, part of which was captured on video, was apparently the second one on the same day.
“The HoD first had a meeting with [police union] Popcru to brief them on developments in the department. An official who is an office bearer of Nehawu at the Riverside Government Complex (RGC) branch opened the boardroom and disrupted the meeting, leading to an altercation between the members of the two unions,” said an eyewitness.
“On the same day, a couple of hours later, the same Nehawu RGC branch members and their comrades from outside the department forcefully entered the boardroom where the HoD was having a meeting with his office manager.
Wanted to manhandle the HoD
“The same official who had disrupted the meeting with Popcru was this time more aggressive and wanted to manhandle the HoD. Unfortunately, Nehawu has recruited mercenaries within its ranks, primarily motivated by personal gain and motivation.
“If the police did not arrive on time, it looked like fists were going to fly as emotions were running high. The situation had degenerated as the HoD was surrounded by angry union members.”
Nehawu will be marching on Thursday to hand over a list of demands that department officials claim have mostly been addressed.
Among other issues are disputes over the organogram of the department, filling of vacant posts as well as a shortage of staff.
Vacant critical posts
The department insists that as of the lifting of the moratorium in 2020, 708 critical posts were identified as vacant.
A three-phase plan to fill the posts was plotted. And to date, department records show that 843 posts were advertised, with 681 recruits absorbed into the department to date.
The remaining 217 vacant posts could not be filled owing to a national treasury instruction that there would be no additional budget allocated due to a decline in government tax revenue collections.
Recruitment process suspended
“As such, the recruitment process was suspended in June 2023 in order to explore funding mechanisms to mitigate potential negative impacts on the execution of the department’s mandate,” reads an internal memo shared with the unions we have seen.
“The second suspension was in line with a treasury circular on cost containment, including filling of posts, which was effective from October 2023. The circular directed departments to seek support and approval from OTP and provincial treasury before filling vacant posts. CFOs were requested to confirm in writing if a budget was available to fund these posts.”
However, Nehawu is having none of those explanations. The union is pushing for the promotion of its branch leaders in the name of upward mobility, but the same leaders are said to not have the minimum requirements.
“All these things are happening under the watch of a Nehawu provincial secretary who is using this situation as a strategy for his re-election in the provincial conference, scheduled for June,” said a union insider.
