The 500 municipal workers who were dismissed in Mpumalanga have been reinstated following a settlement agreement.

The Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) intervened and held a marathon meeting with the Cooperative Governance Department where an agreement was struck with the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality.

However the union notes that the impasse could have long been resolved had the municipality engaged workers on the issue of salary adjustments and grading instead of suppressing it.

The workers downed tools in September and this month were issued letters of dismissal. The municipality has now agreed to resolve the dispute.

Samwu has also taken issue with the absence of the Local Government Association’s political leadership in municipalities dogged by instability. The union says legally, Salga was supposed to provide support and advice to struggling municipalities especially like Steve Tshwete whose issues date back to 2017.

[Header image: Supplied]