Durban — The DA has called for transparency about the controversial Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to root out possible ghost workers.

DA eThekwini leader Thabani Mthethwa said someone must be held accountable for the mess and the damage caused by the strike by EPWP workers whose employment contracts had been terminated.

EPWP workers whose contracts were terminated have taken part in service delivery disruptions around eThekwini.

It is believed that the EPWP workers were informed that their contracts would be terminated at the end of this month after the City suffered a deficit.

The City’s deficit is R50 million, not R50 billion as previously reported.

Mthethwa said the DA had warned the eThekwini Municipality about the unsustainability of the programme under the current format but no one had listened.

“Again we call on the City to come forward with the proof that all the striking former staff that were terrorising workers at the depots and vandalising property were indeed genuine employees,” he said.

Mthethwa said this was important so that those who were defrauding the programme could be separated and treated as criminals while the City was dealing with the retrenched workers who were genuinely under the programme.

Mthethwa added that the auditing of the staff would not take a month since all workers reported to supervisors.

Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) leader Queen Mbatha told the Daily News that the situation had not changed as striking workers were still camping at municipal depots, blocking vehicles entering and leaving sites. However, she distanced her union from the violent action, saying that their members were not on strike.

“The striking people are 4 500 former EPWP workers whose contracts were terminated,” Mbatha said.

On Wednesday, Thulani Ngwenya, the deputy general secretary of the Municipal and Allied Trade Union of SA (Matusa) was quoted as saying the municipality should have kept the EPWP workers as some had been employed for more than 15 years and their contracts had been terminated without consultation.

He said that their members would picket until their grievances were attended to.

Xolani Dube, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union eThekwini regional secretary said although their workers were not part of the strike, the Union supported the affected EPWP workers and called on the municipality to reinstate them.

There are about 9 000 workers on the programme, while 6 000 were said to be under the Presidential Employment Programme. Citing the slashing of the budget from R68m to R18m, the City issued notices to the employees earlier this month notifying them that contracts that were to expire would not be renewed.

The EPWP in eThekwini includes various projects such as EPWP Administration, the Safer Cities Volunteers Programme, Urban Management Zone (UMZ), ITRUMP, the Durban Solid Waste city-wide cleaning programme, Community-Based Water Agents, the Social Sector, and Cornubia Cleaning Services.

These initiatives address community needs such as crime prevention, cleanliness and water management.

On Wednesday, eThekwini spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the EPWP workers had resorted to blocking gates at different depots and had intimidated staff and refuse collection contractors, which made it impossible for normal collection of refuse to take place.

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Daily News