SAMWU demands end to municipal outsourcing, calls for increased Treasury funding

By Akani Nkuna

South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) president Nkhetheni Muthavhi has called for an end to the outsourcing of municipal services, arguing that it sidelines municipal workers while enriching private companies through public contracts.

“Outsourcing must come to an end. Water tankers must come to an end. Waste removal must come to an end. We must do the work as municipalities because once we accept outsourcing, services are going to become very expensive,” Muthavhi told thousands of protesters and union members in Tshwane.

“We have people in waste management who are not working because their jobs have been taken by private companies. We want our overtime because when private companies do the work, municipal workers lose those opportunities.”

Muthavhi was speaking outside the National Treasury offices in Pretoria on Thursday, where SAMWU, alongside COSATU and the SACP, staged a National Day of Action protest over what they described