He has responded, through his caucus, to the sustained social media attacks.
Read the full response:
There is an individual by the name of Isaac Mohlala who has made it his life’s goal to defame me on Facebook.
Unfortunately, for him, I will not give him the satisfaction to reply to his baseless accusations.
What I know is that there is an effort from some of the officials who were suspended to put me and the DA in a bad light.
One of them said to me that they will make sure that I will not be elected as a Councillor again. Luckily, our residents know what I do for my ward and the town in general.
The Secretary of one of the unions uses foul language against us as DA Councillors as well as the public, and from what I heard she said our houses will be the first to burn.
It is important to put this whole strike situation in perspective.
It started with a demand to get rid of the former Municipal Manager, Mr Bheki Khenisa. He eventually resigned.
A further demand was benchmarking. This was done and permission was granted that they can do benchmarking with Nkomazi Municipality, which was their choice.
The workers were not happy with the financial outcome, demanding that the senior managers do not get any further back-pay and that their share be divided amongst all workers.
DA Councillors voted against such an illegal demand but it was pushed through during voting, and the masses got money that was not theirs.
The next issue is the grading of the Municipality, the grading for Councillors and the Section 56 Managers. There are three sets of legislation dealing with this.
The workers are graded according to an agreement in the Local Government Bargaining Council. This process is still underway and also includes job descriptions which have not been finalised.
They are currently on grade 4 and will probably move to grade 5 when the process is concluded, but the demand is that we do it now, without the Bargaining Council process. The Council said it is not possible as it is not our competency.
Members from the MHRF and EFF are supporting the workers in this unreasonable demand.
The Municipal Manager and Executive Directors qualify in terms of the legislation, and points calculated, to be on grade 6.
The Cogta MEC has not yet approved this grading.
In terms of the legislation governing the grading for Councillors, we qualify to be remunerated on a grade 5 level. This has also not been approved by the MEC.
The workers claim that we look only after ourselves after a new increase of 3% was approved by the President for public office bearers. We are, however, still waiting for final approval from the MEC.
The workers forget that they received a 4.9% increase as from 1 July 2022, bringing the minimum wage to an amount of R9 043 per month. How much does a general worker in the private sector earn, compared to this?
• They demand that disciplinary action be withdrawn against officials who are charged for breaking the code of conduct by inciting violence, disruption of services and intimidation of workers who report for duty. Threats are being made against fellow workers, vehicles were damaged. It is an unreasonable demand.
The strike is illegal and yet they demand full pay while they camp out on the open space behind the Municipal building. Drinking and eating while residents are deprived essential services. Not acceptable at all!
They claim that R3.6 million is paid to protect the acting Municipal Manager.
The security is there to protect municipal property and officials and Councillors. We have experienced instances where workers stormed into the Council Chamber and intimidated Councillors, officials and members of the public.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry and local business consultants can testify in this regard. Part of the building was flooded after toilet paper was placed in the outlet of a basin.
At a Council Forum meeting, we were informed of the security dangers and the Councillors who were present took note of these dangers.
At the meeting in July, the deviation to procure the services of additional security was also tabled in Council. No Councillor recorded any objection to the deviation.
A detailed report will be submitted at a special council meeting within the next week explaining the reasons and processes followed. Then we will also get the true amount that was paid up till now.
They single me out as not doing my job as MPAC Chairperson. As the Chairperson I do not authorise any payment. As the MPAC committee we have the duty to do oversight and our roles and responsibilities are spelled out in legislation and our terms of reference.
The terms of reference are currently under review to strengthen our mandate. I have no input in any payment being done and I have not received any benefits from any payment done to a service provider.
There is a concerted effort by some of the officials and certain Councillors to make the municipality ungovernable. As a responsible elected public representative, each Councillor took an oath to act in the best interest of the municipality and the country.
Some Councillors from the MHRF and EFF want to entertain the demands from the workers, and also want to recognise the so-called delegates who are not members of SAMWU or IMATU who are the only recognised unions in the bargaining council. This is very dangerous and we cannot support this.
The Local Labour Forum (LLF) is the only recognised body who can negotiate on local level and the LLF is made up by representatives from the recognised unions and management.
As the DA, our stance is that there is a clear division of powers. We as Councillors are the legislative body of the Municipality and the Municipal Manager and Executive Directors are responsible for the day-to-day running of the Municipality, hiring of workers and also disciplinary action when required.
As a Councillor I have no power to hire or fire any worker.
The fact that certain services are not rendered is very frustrating. As ward Councillors we now have to try and find solutions for problems regarding water, electricity and refuse removal. We are also suffering from the same issues, but as responsible Councillors we cannot support suggestions that residents withhold payment.
The Municipality has a debt recovery policy and in terms of this policy cutting electricity supply is one of the methods used to ensure payment.
It will therefore be very dangerous to withhold any payment for services. It will put residents in a worse position and as Councillors we will not be able to ensure electricity supply without payment.
Part of the refuse removal service is the management of waste at the dumping sites, and we still have access to water, electricity and sewerage.
The DA Caucus is currently in discussions with the Bargaining Council and the Essential Services Commission to intervene and restore service delivery.
We also support the disciplinary processes that are currently underway.
