Premier Phumulo Masualle must release and implement the recommendations of the sex-for-jobs scandal investigation and fire some “deadwood managers” in seven days – or else workers will go on strike.
These were some of the demands of the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) in a memorandum that members handed to Masualle on Wednesday.
About 500 Nehawu members marched from the Bhisho Stadium to Masualle’s office.
Masualle received the memo and sent it to all MECs with an instruction to report back to him by Tuesday.
Nehawu provincial secretary Miki Jaceni called for action to be taken against those implicated in the sex-for-jobs scandal that rocked the provincial administration in 2014.
“There was a scandal in the Eastern Cape about people who were selling jobs for sex.
“We are informed there is a report which is with the speaker and we are demanding that that report must be made public and implemented fully.
“We cannot waste government money to investigate such incidents and then the recommendations are not implemented,” he said in an interview.
The union also demanded:
The immediate payment of the human resources operational team (HROPT) by all affected departments;
The immediate scrapping of the provincial coordinating management team based at the Office of the Premier;
Habitable buildings to guarantee the safety of workers, especially in health and social development offices;
The immediate absorption of all community healthcare workers and contract workers in all departments;
The immediate filling of all funded vacant posts; and
Consulting the union on the appointments of senior managers.
“We are seeing that many of the departments are unable to contribute positively in the development of the province. As such, we are the last province to be recognised by all other provinces because we are always trailing behind every other province in terms of service delivery,” Jaceni said.
He said the union wanted to see the back of all “deadwood managers”.
“Nehawu launched a service delivery campaign at Thafalofefe Hospital [in Centane], but despite these interventions, some heads of departments in the Eastern Cape are still unable to execute their administrative duties efficiently and sufficiently to improve the lives of the citizens of this province,” Jaceni said.
“Workers are made scapegoats to save some incompetent but connected managers who are deadwoods in the system.”
Masualle accepted the memorandum and was given seven days to respond.
“We are giving the premier seven days to do that and failure to do so, will compel Nehawu to embark on a rolling mass action ... in order to change the situation around for the better.
“Surely the premier will take us seriously this time, because we have engaged with them a number of times but all in vain,” Jaceni said.
Provincial government spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said: “We can’t give an immediate answer to the demands given.
“The issues raised speak to the provincial government and the premier will look at them and respond in line with the time frame given.”..