The eThekwini Municipality on Monday said that it had resumed with refuse collection services.
Residents can now expect services on their scheduled days.
Street sweeping and refuse collection services had been disrupted since last week after staff members in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) downed tools.
Thousands of workers in the programme could lose their jobs by the end of this month as the municipality does not have the funds to pay for the programme.
The news that the workers were about to lose their livelihood triggered a protest that caused disruption in refuse collection. City workers who opted to continue with their duties had to be escorted by metro police amid concerns of intimidation.
The Municipal and Allied Trade Union of South Africa (Matusa) said it met with City officials and the mayor’s office on Saturday to discuss the issue of job losses.
In a statement, the municipality said the services have resumed.
“eThekwini Municipality informs residents and businesses that refuse collection and street sweeping services, which were affected by the recent illegal strike action, have resumed.
“Massive clean-up operations and the clearing of the waste collection backlog commenced over the weekend. Residents are requested to take out their refuse bags on the morning of their scheduled collection days,” read the statement.
Matusa deputy secretary-general Thulani Ngwenya said union leaders held a meeting on Saturday where several commitments were made, including the absorption of workers who were about to lose their jobs.
He said the City has committed that the staff will be hired on the full-time basis each time there is a vacancy.
“The agreement is that when there are vacancies, the staff members that are part of the EPWP, but out of contract, will be given preference.
“There are interviews that had been happening to fill vacancies in the city, those have now been halted in order to give the staff in this programme first preference,” he said.
He said Matusa did not have mechanisms in place to enforce this arrangement and relied on the City’s word.
Independent Municipal & Allied Trade Union spokesperson Queen Mbatha said they are expecting to meet with the mayor.
Mayoral spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa said he could not confirm the meeting or what was discussed and referred The Mercury to a statement released by the City last week.
City spokesperson Gugu Sisilana, last week said the municipality is working on a plan to revive the EPWP. She said by the end of the month, 2 879 beneficiaries will be dropped from the City’s payroll following a massive reduction of the EPWP budget allocation from the national department.
The move will see the EPWP workforce decline from 4 155 to 1 276.
Sisilana said the municipality would receive R18.79 million from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure for the new financial year, a reduction of R42m from the previous year.
The Mercury