adminMost of the council’s plant and equipment including vehicles, computers and other properties have been attached by the Deputy Sheriff over a $3,5 million debt it owes its workers.
The attached property includes refuse removal trucks, fire tenders, ambulances, furniture and computers, among others. The money owed the workers is the result of a 160 percent salary increase backdated to 2009 awarded by an arbitrator recently.
After the Deputy Sheriff attached the property, the council made an urgent chamber application in an attempt to block the auctioning of the property but the application was thrown out by the High Court which ruled that it was not urgent. The High Court instead castigated the council for waiting until the property was attached to act. The court noted that council could have acted soon after the arbitration award was registered last October and not to wait until the property was attached.
The Prime Minister, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai last month held a crisis meeting with the leadership of Masvingo municipality in a desperate attempt to save the council from collapse but it seems nothing materialised from the meeting.
The workers are going ahead with their plans to auction the council property in their bid to recover what they are owed. The Deputy Sheriff has in fact indicated that the attached property will be sold through public auction tomorrow.
The Mayor of Masvingo Alderman Femius Chakabuda seems to have surrendered everything to fate.
Asked to comment on the pending auction of council property, Alderman Chakabuda said: “There is nothing we can do. It is entirely up to them to go ahead with the auction or not.”
It was alderman Chakabuda and his councillors who went to sleep instead of taking action soon after the registration of the arbitration award as rightly observed by the High Court.
What is clear is that the council leadership has been arrogant and taking its workers for granted hence the acrimonious labour relations that have seen workers taking a tough stance. The council leadership should have engaged the workers and agreed payment terms for the outstanding money. In the event council wanted to appeal against the arbitration award, it should have done so immediately after the registration of the award. The council leadership blundered but what is now required is for reason to prevail. The council workers, we want to believe, would not want to see a total collapse of the municipality which remains their employer despite the dispute. The workers are also residents of Masvingo city who will be or are already being adversely affected by the council’s failure to provide services following the attachment of its property. The council leadership should swallow its pride and seriously engage workers with concrete plans to meet its obligation of paying the outstanding amount. The council leadership needs to work hard to improve its industrial relations to avoid creating a similar crisis in future.
The residents are already calling for the appointment of a commission to run the municipality but our view is that it is not the best solution. The commission will still need the attached property to enable it to deliver services to residents. We want to once again implore both the workers and the council leadership to put the interests of residents first and find the best way of resolving their dispute which does not lead to the total collapse of the council.
Online Reporter