NEWS ANALYSIS: Samwu infighting paralyses union, leaves workers in limbo
The chaos has left labour relations reached an all-time low and service delivery at a standstill in municipalities
The disintegration of the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) has wreaked havoc in the spaces where it organises, leaving labour relations in shambles, and its members and communities the victims of the chaos. For more than five years, the biggest municipal union in the country has been paralysed by infighting and a scramble for resources, as leaders launched lawsuits and counter-suits against each other in a struggle for positions. Labour relations reached an all-time low in some municipalities, including the City of Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay, with employers withholding union subscriptions as they were unable to discern who the legitimate leaders of the union were. Service delivery came to a standstill in a number of municipalities , as members “abandoned” their posts to engage in intra-union squabbles. “Workers would always be in union meetings and fighting among themselves, the energy that was supposed to be dedicated to their own communities was focused on internal squa...
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