Mangaung ghost workers hold city manager hostage, force him to sign off millions in salaries

At least 163 ghost workers at the Free State’s Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality continue to get paid while sitting at home, after they allegedly held the acting city manager hostage, forcing him to sign off on the illegal payments.

Sources at the beleaguered council, now under the control of the national Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), said acting city manager Tebogo Motlashuping was held hostage by some of the ghost employees, who threatened to throw him out of the 12^th floor window at the municipal Bram Fischer building if he refused to sign for payments.

Motlashuping, who was appointed by national government to steer the ship at the municipality, seemingly had no choice but to oblige and sign off three-month payments each for the alleged kidnappers, promising them that he would formally advertise their posts next week.

“These ghost workers were paid R8.9 million net income previously. For three months, this is going to come to almost R27 million and over R30 million gross.

“They are paid R30 million while sitting at home, but service delivery is non-existent. PEP [public employment programme] workers are not paid full salary for their hard work, but ghost workers are paid for nothing,” said a source with inside information.

Following The Citizen‘s exposé of Mangaung’s ghost political appointees mainly from the ANC regional membership, a scramble apparently ensued to get them to sign falsified attendance registers.

The ghost employees included Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s brother Jabu, who was “appointed” to speaker Stefani Lockman-Naidoo’s office after the 2021 local elections, but never reported for work.

WhatsApp messages were circulated informing ghost employees to make their way to council offices and sign an attendance sheet.

Sources believe that the falsified register was used to dupe national Cogta officials into believing that everyone arrived and did the work they were hired for, as no action was taken when alarm bells went off about the register.

City in chaos

Meanwhile, a group of employees stormed a meeting referred to as a budget conference on Thursday, demanding payments, including for overtime work.

Council is yet to pass a budget after several postponements.

According to those who were part of the meeting, Mayor Mxolisi Siyonzana didn’t stay long and groups of employees stormed in as soon as he left, holding attendees hostage.

“It was as if he knew the workers were on their way. He was just there for two minutes and he left. We were held hostage for a few minutes until they managed to bundle out one of finance managers, telling him he will go and pay them, and that’s when we managed to get out,” said the source.

Last week, PEP workers, employed to clean up the city streets, held protests outside the building, demanding to be paid two month-long salaries owed.

ALSO READ: ‘I am new in this job’: Mangaung Mayor Siyonzana survives vote of no confidence

‘R500 000 worth of diesel goes missing’

The ongoing corruption at the municipality, despite the presence of Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s officials, seems to be continuing unabated.

Last month, Motlashuping launched an investigation after R500 000 worth of diesel, which he purchased and which was delivered to the municipal depot, disappeared.

Services such as refuse removal, sewage, and water leak repairs ground to a halt as teams could not fix anything because vehicles had no fuel.

A source at the depot told The Citizen that fuel was being siphoned from the depot and sold, allegedly by officials.

Motlashuping refused to comment when contacted on Thursday.

Phone calls, emails and text messages to national Cogta spokesperson Mlungisi Mtshali and head of communications Legadima Leso went unanswered.

READ MORE: Troubled Mangaung pays law firm R1m to translate documents, ignoring own legal staff

‘Thuggery in council’

Democratic Alliance caucus chairperson David Masoeu said Motlashuping refused several requests to meet with concerned council members, saying he doesn’t meet with councillors.

“All that is happening in Mangaung stemmed from the deep divisions in the ANC. What is happening here is thuggery. The mayor is being protected throughout, and he is causing all the mess happening here,” he said.

The budget hearing, he said, was supposed to be held on 31 May but was postponed to Friday, against the council rules that require a 48 hour notice.

Freedom Front Plus councillor Elizabeth Snyman-Van Deventer accused national Cogta of failure to serve the Mangaung residents.

“The problems we’ve been having here continue. Government underestimated the massive problems we are facing, mainly internal ANC fightings, labour problems, municipal officials.

“We have terrible environment where HODs officials who can’t do their work because there is no ink or paper in the printer.

“We are also requesting that the national intervention team be named by Minister Dlamini-Zuma. Apparently they are going to use the financial recovery plan drafted in 2019 but never went for public participation as required, and use it this time…that plan was done pre-Covid, it can’t be,” she said.

Her party, said Snyman-Van Deventer, is calling for a meeting with officials from Dlamini-Zuma’s department and national Treasury.

“We have people being held hostage, protests and corruption, no change at all. We are not convinced that the intervention is making a difference…there’s no improvement in service delivery or the draft budget, we do not see national Cogta being for the betterment of Mangaung.”

Last month, Siyonzana survived a motion of no confidence sponsored by the DA, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats (ASSD).

The African National Congress squabbling in and outside council drove the opposition parties to take a shot at removing Siyonzana, hoping for a secret ballot and some ANC support.

The parties banked on the more than 10 ANC councillors at loggerheads with its regional leadership for supporting the suspension of corporate services head, David Nkaiseng, accused of spearheading the registration of the ghost workers at the municipality.

However, voting by a show of hands took place instead of a secret ballot.

Motlashuping is yet to institute action against Nkaiseng, despite council adopting an investigative report, instructing him to act.

NOW READ: Oh, the irony! Mbalula’s brother exposed as one of Mangaung’s costly ghost workers