Mfundekelwa Mkhulisi

Mfundekelwa Mkhulisi

The Johannesburg metro police will be back in full force at work this morning following the resolution of their pay dispute with management.

An agreement was reached between the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and metro police management on Saturday.

"This is a victory for metro cops," said an elated Samwu official, Vincent Vena, yesterday. "We are very happy."

Vena said it was not only the metro cops who would benefit from the agreement but also other employees in administration and other areas of the department.

"We agreed that all qualified officers will get the minimum salary of R8560 a month and other staff members will get the increase according to the entry level in their departments," he said.

Hundreds of metro police officers blockaded the M2 highway and all the on-ramps and off-ramps around the city on Wednesday demanding salary increases. They also complained about sexual harassment and nepotism within the department.

Metro police spokesman Wayne Minnaar declined to comment yesterday. He told Sowetan that the terms of the agreement would be revealed at a press conference today.

Vena said the salary adjustment will come into effect immediately.

During training, officers will get a monthly stipend of R2000 and earn R4000 upon completion of their training.

Officers who have worked for six to 12 years will be promoted to mid-level and those above 12 years will be promoted to senior level and earn accordingly.

"Issues like nepotism, sexual harassment and others were deferred for later to give each other an opportunity to resolve the impasse," he said.

He said it was shocking that officers winning awards for excellent work but earning R4000 a month.