City Manager appointment to go to court

EKURHULENI – The saga of the employment status of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality city manager, Khaya Ngema, has had a new development as the EMM has received correspondence from the the Gauteng Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Jacob Mamabolo , regarding the issue.

The dispute was brought to the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa in June 2014, claiming that Ngema’s employment was terminated in May 2012, and that all decisions taken thereafter are invalid and unlawful.

The Gauteng High Court declared in a court order on August 21, 2015, Ngema’s employment was terminated on May 17, 2012, and that the municipal council claimed to extend his ’employment relationship’ with the municipality.

READ: EMM on the brink of administrative crisis

The court further found that the extension of Ngema’s employment was non-compliant with relevant sections of the Municipal Systems Act. The implications of this judgement could potentially result in the review of every decision taken by the city manager since 2012.

Themba Gadebe, EMM spokesperson, released a statement saying that the metro has received correspondence from the MEC, advising the EMM to ‘comply with the provisions of Section 54A of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000’ which deals with appointments of city managers.

He explained: “The MEC will go to court, not to ask the court for an order that we comply with Section 54A of MSA, but whether the current employment of the city manager is valid or not. The matter will thus be dealt with in court. The city manager is at work until the court process is concluded.”

The EMM previously issued a statement in September stating: “The municipality wishes to emphasise that the matter is being dealt with by the Member of the Executive Council for Local Government and Housing as directed by the court. We also reiterate that the court at no stage declared the city manager’s contract invalid.”