‘Muscle-men’ not that expensive and a necessity said Mr Fix-it

In the centre of the controversy is the city’s administrator Mr Theo van Vuuren, who according to newspaper reports allegedly spent about R20-million in the past 14 months for bodyguards to protect himself and senior managers from other municipal workers.

In the same breath it was alleged that although Van Vuuren and the officials have bodyguards always in close vicinity, the mayor Cllr Salome Sithole and the Speaker Ms Augustine Mkhwanazi have no protection at all.

“This matter seems to gain prominence among some, with the assumption that money is being wasted for unjustifiable activities by the office of the administrator,” was the reaction when Van Vuuren’s office was asked about the allegations.

Van Vuuren said the article, which appeared in the daily newspaper on May 25, is based on untested information given without authorisation to the press and alleged discussions with five members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) who is believed to have a dispute with the administration.

For the past 13 months the municipality has been under the magnifying glass after it was placed under administration on April 23.

This decision followed a series of staffing disputes and unrest, which resulted in service delivery coming to a total standstill.

The final decision by the Provincial Executive Council to intervene was made when the previous municipal manager, George Mthimunye was physically assaulted and his office vandalised.

During the intervention the assessments made of the situation confirmed these issues and also pointed to widespread illegal activities both among staff and also in the municipal operating environment. As part of the intervention strategy the need to address illegal activities, restore law and order, root out internal corruption, prevent theft of land, electricity and water, was identified.

As first priority the stabilisation of the internal staffing environment and restoring of a normal working environment, where staff could work without fear of violence and intimidation, was also accepted by council.

Van Vuuren painted a clearer picture of how the millions of rands are spent on security. The money spent can be broken down into three spheres, law enforcement unit, forensic investigations and then lastly personal protection.

“From the R20.3-million mentioned in the article less than 25% can be considered as for personal protection. To have personal and general security and protection in place is viewed by the municipal senior management as an absolute necessity as the municipality is an unsafe environment and forensic investigations, addressing of illegal activities as well as some elements in the internal staffing environment, necessitate security,” Van Vuuren said.

In the execution of the intervention strategy the need to provide general security protection to staff and main working areas was reconfirmed. In this regard various incidences on a sporadic basis of staff intimidation, vandalism of facilities and theft necessitated the strengthening of the security element which was brought in place during February 2013, following the assault of Mthminye.

Up to February 2013 the municipality was using its own employed security staff but they were then redeployed and absorbed in the law enforcement unit, which has an external focus, as security members were unionised and also in cases of staff unrest became part of the unrest as they have union interests.

“Forensic investigations and preparing of dockets to address the large scale internal and external irregularities, especially in respect of land uses, water and electricity payments as well as large scale theft of water meters, cables, steel, vehicles, copper and even railway lines, was a further critical component in the intervention strategy.

This further includes investigations into contracts and tenders. These investigations already resulted in members from the public being arrested and officials fired, whilst a number of further cases are still pending finalisation. Linked to this the municipality embarked upon initiatives addressing illegal use of electricity and water and in this process a special reaction team consisting of officials from Finance, Electrical, Water departments and Law Enforcement Unit, are being supported by security members,” Van Vuuren explained.

To date this operation recovered R45-million, led to the suspension of 17 staff members and 13 arrests. This component of the work represents a varying but on average monthly expenditure of R700 000.

The Guardian Group, that was contracted as an emergency measure by council during February 2013 following the assault on the municipal manager, scope had been amended to include aspects such as the forensic investigations during the administrator’s term. Van Vuuren also pointed out that this arrangement was made prior to him being appointed as administrator. During these investigations as well as in the negotiation with staff, community and business groups the safety of the administrator, chief financial officer, directors Planning, Infrastructure and head of the two deployees from the province came in question. Reports of vandalism and threats were made and at least three attempted hijackings of key staff were attempted.

“As a direct protection as well as a preventative matter, close protectors were contracted and deployed to protect the above-mentioned staff. Security is also deployed to any staff member where the circumstances necessitate protection. It should also be noted that the mayor does also have security protection on a permanent basis.”

The six body guards according to Van Vuuren cost less than R100 000 a week.

To emphasise the urgency of having good security around, Van Vuuren mentioned the strike by SAMWU members last month.

They demanded a specific organigram to be approved by council, who did not concede to this request as further work was still needed.

“As a result vehicles were damaged, windows broken, staff intimidated and threatened. Staff from the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (IMATU) and staff not associated with a union then approached management for protection against being victimised. A group of guards was contracted on a week to week basis and is still in place, to contain this situation and to prevent further damages. The courts also declared this as an illegal strike and an interdict has been obtained against SAMWU,” Van Vuuren explained.

As the situation is still volatile this group is still in place and maintains a visible presence throughout the building and at key satellite points. The weekly costs of this is R150 000.

“The council’s management and the administrator want to state it that the current operating environment necessitates a strong security effort if we want to maintain a position of stability from which we can address service delivery and transformation, and from where the illegal activities in the city can be attacked.”

Mr Vusi Pilson, chairman of SAMWU, said he will shed more light on this issue from the union’s perspective later this week.

Efforts to speak to Mkhwanazi and Cllr Sithole were fruitless.