City of Durban makes progress on disciplinary cases backlog

ETHEKWINI Municipality’s backlog of disciplinary cases has shown signs of improved resolvement the city’s Executive Committee noted at a virtual meeting last on 26 May.

In a report presented to the committee it was revealed that 162 cases were resolved as at 29 February, of which 90 were formal hearings and 72 informal hearings.

This showed an improvement on the backlog of cases from 31 October which were sitting at 336, of which 236 were formal hearings and 100 were informal hearings.

There are still 174 outstanding cases to be resolved.

ALSO READ: Technical difficulties mar Durban Municipality’s council budget debate

According to the report, cases have been categorised in terms of the Disciplinary Procedure Collective Agreement, which provides that less serious allegations, which would normally warrant a written warning, can be dealt with via informal hearings.

Allegations that are more serious are dealt with via formal hearings.

Acting Deputy City Manager of Corporate and Human Resources, Kim Makhathini, said of the outstanding cases, work has been done but the cases have not yet been resolved.

Head of the Legal and Compliance Unit, Melusi Mhlongo said a number of steps have been taken to resolve the backlog of disciplinary cases.

These include rendering the Disciplinary Board more effective in order to clear the backlog of cases as well as dealing urgently with cases where employees have been on special leave or suspended for a lengthy period while receiving a salary.

He said these cases would be finalised within the next month.

Mhlongo said consequence management would be reinstated with three assigned advisors handling reports from the City Integrity and Investigations Unit whose duty it will be to see each case to its conclusion.

“If the case stalls, they will personally be held liable for the delays. These are just some of the additional steps we have taken to clear the backlog,” he said.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting

Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).

Do you want to receive news alerts via Telegram? Send us a message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.

You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts

Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.