AT an Ekurhuleni council meeting recently, the speaker, Patricia Khumalo accepted a proposal by simply asking for a call of “yes” or “no”.
On August 24, the meeting was held to discuss council’s plan to change their top management structures to, according to them, cut costs, create jobs and streamline the top structures.
One of the proposed actions to be taken were demoting certain high ranking officials but still paying them the same salary, which led to much confusion as to how this would be any benefit to anyone or how it could be considered a cost saving measure, especially since council, according to the DA, cannot even provide any figures.
Some concerns were raised by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
According to the DA, council did not follow the proper procedures, making the motion illegal and said that no studies were done, no details given on the effect it would have on service delivery, no details on financial implications, no consultation between workers and employers, and more.
The DA also referred to many of the new mobile clinics built around Ekurhuleni that are now just “collecting dust” because there are no qualified people to run them.
The EFF did not see this being a successful venture and mentioned cadre deployment, stating that this item was being pushed through and that skilled people were needed in these positions.
The ANC hit back, simply saying that this was indeed necessary and was all done by the book.
Soon after, the speaker asked all in favour of the motion to say “yes” and all against, “no”, and accepted the item.
The DA quickly took umbrage to this, asking how the speaker knew how many were actually for the motion and how many against as no numbers were taken or even a show of hands.
The speaker, however, overruled these objections, said it was done and adjourned the meeting.
RECORD contacted the Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality for comment but they have not responded to our requests.
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