Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers organised under the Independent Liberation Allied Workers Union (ILAWU) protested against the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO), demanding permanent employment, payment of outstanding salaries, and salary increments.
On Friday, ILAWU leader, Thapelo Mafa, said they have had enough of the disrespect and undermining tendencies of JOSHCO.
Mafa said these are not new issues, and they should have been attended to by now, “We first raised these issues on April 16, 2025, and today is May 23, 2025, and nothing has been done yet.”
Mafa added: “We are going to make an application at the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, we are going to get body bags and will start sleeping here as of Wednesday if they don’t respond by then.”
“We are either going to eat together, or we are going to cover the food with soil, and when I say eat, I don’t mean they should contact us as leaders for bribes, I mean they should adhere to our demands.”
After a short caucus to negotiate terms, Nhlamulo Shikwambana, JOSHCO’s Chief Operations Officer pleaded for extension, citing that he was new to the issue and 72 hours was tight for him to go through the memorandum and engage other stakeholders to deliver a mutually desired outcome.
Mafa went back to address the protesters and explained that Shikwambana had asked for pleaded two more days as this was his first time dealing with this issue.
Mafa explained that EPWP contracts last for just two years, and they are automatically terminated when they two years has been completed.
“These workers have been servicing JOSHCO and the Department of Infrastructure Development for over seven years without proper training or any accreditation certificates they can use to apply for jobs elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, Shikwambana said they will go through the workers’ memorandum to get an understanding of their grievances and see how best they can position themselves to assist.
“We want to service our people as diligently as they have been servicing the city, it is only fair that we be good to them as they have been to us,” he said.
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