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Ccape Town - After 22 years a group of former Midrand municipal workers say they are finally in sight of a settlement about their claims to have been unfairly dismissed, and to have been deprived of pension monies owed to them.
Stena Molepo, convenor of the group that has continued to meet almost every Sunday since being dismissed in 1994, will on Friday afternoon lead a delegation to meet with Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba.
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The meeting follows notification that the Financial Services Board (FSB) will be investigating claims about the workers’ pensions. This is a particularly sore point for the workers, since the man who dismissed them as human resources manager at Midrand in 1994 today heads the company administering the municipal pension fund.
“But it does look as if things are finally being sorted out,” said Molepo, pointing to correspondence from the FSB. He is also confident that the meeting with Mashaba will start a settlement process.
However, the workers are aware that, in terms of council support, they have been here before. Former mayor Amos Masondo agreed that they had a case, but his successor, Parks Tau, reversed that decision. Molepo put this down to “internal ANC politics”.
The opposition Democratic Alliance, now in control of Johannesburg - which includes the former Midrand municipality - clearly has the possibility of political advantage in assisting a group of traditional ANC supporters. “But we don’t care about the politics. We just want justice,” said Molepo.
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