Their contracts were terminated in July and the eThekwini municipality says it is only considering applicants 35 or younger

Dozens of former municipal workers employed on contracts through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) have been sleeping in Medwood Garden outside Durban City Hall for a month now. They want their jobs back.

Their contracts were terminated in July. Many had worked on six and 12-month contracts that were renewed for ten years. Since July, they have been staging protests.

Spokesperson for eThekwini Municipality Gugu Sisilana previously told GroundUp that the Department of Public Works had dramatically cut the budget for the 2024/25 financial year. As a result, the municipality is only able to recruit 1,276 people, instead of the over 4,000 people in previous years. And this time applicants will be restricted to those aged 18 to 35.

Many of those whose contracts were terminated are over 40.

The Municipal and Allied Trade Union of South Africa (MATUSA) representing them has unsuccessfully taken the municipality to the Labour Court several times.

Some said they are no longer able to pay their rent and decided to camp with their belongings outside the City Hall.

Nokukhnya Fakude, from Nongoma in north KwaZulu-Natal, was an EPWP worker for over nine years. She is 52. She has four children and says she no longer has money to pay her outstanding rent of R3,000.

"The landlord has decided to lock me outside and I don't have any family here in Durban. I have asked the neighborhood to allow my children to stay in her room while they are writing exams," said Fakude.

Zethembe Dlamini said he had to send his family back home to Greytown, forcing his children to drop out of school. "I was shocked to hear that our contract ended. I see myself as a man who cannot take care of his own family now," he said.

He said when it rains, those camping out in the gardens cover themselves with plastic sheets.

Sisilana did not respond to our latest questions.