MEC Mamabolo hides employment of unqualified ANC cadres in Emfuleni: DA

SEDIBENG.- The Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) has opted to abuse the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI Act) to conceal the identity of unqualified ANC cadres employed at the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM). This is according to the DA’s Kingsol Chabalala.

Chabalala, who is also the DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR), said that this is despite their role in collapsing the municipality and causing service delivery to fail.

In a written reply to questions posed by the DA (which Sedibeng Ster is in possession of), the MEC for COGTA, Jacob Mamabolo, outlines that the ELM hired 151 persons between 2021 and July 2024. MEC Mamabolo cites the POPI Act as the rationale for non-disclosure of the names of the employees, declaring that “an employee’s confidential information is governed by the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013”.

“Although the DA acknowledges the POPI Act, we question the MEC’s convenient use of the act to hide the names of those employed by the municipality during this period. The municipality’s failure to hire competent and qualified individuals for key positions is the reason for this non-disclosure,” Chabalala said.

He further said that the ELM’s failure to depoliticise and professionalise its workplace has not been without consequences. The following are the results:

• Eskom recently attached Emfuleni’s bank accounts to recover an R8b in debt, underscoring the municipality’s debt crisis.
• The municipality’s infrastructure has collapsed, as evidenced by the raw sewage flowing into the Vaal River.
• Emfuleni has also struggled to make payments to Rand Water, aggravating the water crisis in the region.
• The roads are riddled with potholes, with little prospect of ever being fixed.

“These issues affecting the residents of Emfuleni partly stem from the same individuals whom MEC Mamabolo is trying to protect through the POPI Act. Instead of serving residents, some of these individuals have looted public funds, leaving little to nothing for service delivery. For this reason, concealing their identity serves no purpose because their deeds are public knowledge.”