As Pikitup workers continue their strike against the Johannesburg rubbish removal company, the knots of a much older labour dispute could be loosened this Thursday. A protest led by former municipal workers will be calling for the Mayoral Committee of Johannesburg to reopen the case of their dismissal from the Midrand municipality in 1994. They were dismissed for taking action against corruption in the now-defunct municipality, losing even their pensions in the process.

The Mayoral Committee considered the possibility of re-employing the dismissed workers in 2013 but decided against doing so because a report prepared by the very people complicit in the alleged corruption claimed that the workers’ case had been dismissed by the Labour Court.

To fight against the misinformation surrounding their case, the Midrand worker have submitted their own report and records detailing the history of their struggle against corruption. They are now organised by the Democratic Municipal and Allied Workers’ Union of South Africa (DEMAWUSA), which split from the South African Municipal Workers Union over corruption.

The protest action on Thursday, 7 April, is being organised by DEMAWUSA, from 9am at the Metro Centre, in Braamfontein, Johannesburg