A row has erupted between Buffalo City Metro and a group of workers who are living rent-free in municipal-owned holiday accommodation in Gonubie.
Some have lived on the site for up to 18 years, in wha t the metro describes as “park homes”.
The metro wants the workers to sign lease agreements to stop a further loss of revenue.
But the workers claim they live in neglected staff quarters and converted toilets and will never pay rent “for rooms which are in a bad state”.
The issue came to light in a report put before council this week.
It stated that 16 BCM workers were living on the site but only one had signed a lease agreement as per municipal staff rental policies.
The policy states clearly that in such cases employees are required to pay 6% of their basic salary towards rent.
The report, signed last month by Louis Wulff in the capacity of acting city manager, states that the employees had repeatedly been advised to contact the land and administration division to formalise their stay.
The rental policy was adopted by council in March 2002.
“To date, none of them have come forward as they stated that the houses they are staying in are not in a good condition,” the report states.
The report does not stipulate how much the city has lost in unpaid rent or what the water and electricity costs have been.
But it confirmed the workers “have been staying at these chalets for a long time, some for more than five years. Most of these employees have not signed lease agreements and are not paying rent”.
One of the workers, Lindiwe Sikosana of Duncan Village, who is listed as occupying a “park home”, yesterday said she lived in a room.
“I don’t use a chalet, nor a park home. I have a single room and I’m using a communal toilet,” she said.
But she confirmed to the Saturday Dispatch their supervisor Cynthia Mgudane had indicated a month ago that they may be forced to pay rent.
This would be for the first time since she had joined BCM as a cleaner in 2004, s he said.
Cleaners had to be at work by 5am to clean the rooms Sikosana said, and since there was no public transport at that time, all stayed in-house.
The workers accused officials of misleading Wednesday’s council meeting and said the rooms they occupied were in fact dilapidated and only “staff quarters”.
“The staff quarters have never been renovated in my 10 years of being here; as a result some have leaking roofs. And now you tell me the mayor and her council want me to pay 6% of my little monthly salary to pay rent?
“We are not going to do that. If they want us to rent these rooms, they must fix them first and thereafter we can sit down and listen to them,” Sikosana said.
The Dispatch visited the site yesterday and found the accommodation was indeed, in a neglected state.
Workers showed us some communal toilets that have been turned into rooms and used by workers.
In some of the “proper” houses, toilets were leaking and walls falling over.
Neliswa Mantyi of Scenery Park said she had to leave her room and move in with four others in the staff quarters last month because of a leaking roof.
“Whoever said we must pay for these houses has no idea what he or she is talking about. They must come here and see the conditions we live under for themselves, before taking ill-informed decisions,” Mantyi said.
The Dispatch understands several senior BCM officials made a site visit yesterday. These included head of BCM’s land section John Volke, as well as community services senior official Kholekile Tapile.
Mary Peteni, who has worked on BCM’s camping site for the past 18 years and has never paid a penny, said if the officials who visited the site yesterday were honest, they would advise the council to review their decision to force the workers to pay.
“It’s as i f we are staying in three-star chalets. No, we are using dilapidated rooms built to accommodate workers who have to report for work at 5am in December.”
Site manager Simon Blandile, who is the only BCM employee who has signed a lease agreement for his house, confirmed he was site manager but referred our enquiries to BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi.
Neither Ngesi nor Thandy Matebese had responded to e-mailed questions by the time of going to print.
Matebese said she had forwarded our query to the relevant department and “will get back to you as soon as I get their feedback”.
City staff living free in paradise
Some have lived on the site for up to 18 years, in wha t the metro describes as “park homes”.
The metro wants the workers to sign lease agreements to stop a further loss of revenue.
But the workers claim they live in neglected staff quarters and converted toilets and will never pay rent “for rooms which are in a bad state”.
The issue came to light in a report put before council this week.
It stated that 16 BCM workers were living on the site but only one had signed a lease agreement as per municipal staff rental policies.
The policy states clearly that in such cases employees are required to pay 6% of their basic salary towards rent.
The report, signed last month by Louis Wulff in the capacity of acting city manager, states that the employees had repeatedly been advised to contact the land and administration division to formalise their stay.
The rental policy was adopted by council in March 2002.
“To date, none of them have come forward as they stated that the houses they are staying in are not in a good condition,” the report states.
The report does not stipulate how much the city has lost in unpaid rent or what the water and electricity costs have been.
But it confirmed the workers “have been staying at these chalets for a long time, some for more than five years. Most of these employees have not signed lease agreements and are not paying rent”.
One of the workers, Lindiwe Sikosana of Duncan Village, who is listed as occupying a “park home”, yesterday said she lived in a room.
“I don’t use a chalet, nor a park home. I have a single room and I’m using a communal toilet,” she said.
But she confirmed to the Saturday Dispatch their supervisor Cynthia Mgudane had indicated a month ago that they may be forced to pay rent.
This would be for the first time since she had joined BCM as a cleaner in 2004, s he said.
Cleaners had to be at work by 5am to clean the rooms Sikosana said, and since there was no public transport at that time, all stayed in-house.
The workers accused officials of misleading Wednesday’s council meeting and said the rooms they occupied were in fact dilapidated and only “staff quarters”.
“The staff quarters have never been renovated in my 10 years of being here; as a result some have leaking roofs. And now you tell me the mayor and her council want me to pay 6% of my little monthly salary to pay rent?
“We are not going to do that. If they want us to rent these rooms, they must fix them first and thereafter we can sit down and listen to them,” Sikosana said.
The Dispatch visited the site yesterday and found the accommodation was indeed, in a neglected state.
Workers showed us some communal toilets that have been turned into rooms and used by workers.
In some of the “proper” houses, toilets were leaking and walls falling over.
Neliswa Mantyi of Scenery Park said she had to leave her room and move in with four others in the staff quarters last month because of a leaking roof.
“Whoever said we must pay for these houses has no idea what he or she is talking about. They must come here and see the conditions we live under for themselves, before taking ill-informed decisions,” Mantyi said.
The Dispatch understands several senior BCM officials made a site visit yesterday. These included head of BCM’s land section John Volke, as well as community services senior official Kholekile Tapile.
Mary Peteni, who has worked on BCM’s camping site for the past 18 years and has never paid a penny, said if the officials who visited the site yesterday were honest, they would advise the council to review their decision to force the workers to pay.
“It’s as i f we are staying in three-star chalets. No, we are using dilapidated rooms built to accommodate workers who have to report for work at 5am in December.”
Site manager Simon Blandile, who is the only BCM employee who has signed a lease agreement for his house, confirmed he was site manager but referred our enquiries to BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi.
Neither Ngesi nor Thandy Matebese had responded to e-mailed questions by the time of going to print.
Matebese said she had forwarded our query to the relevant department and “will get back to you as soon as I get their feedback”.
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