A Makana councillor has been charged with human rights violations following "offensive" statements he made during a meeting with the land, housing and infrastructure development portfolio committee in September.
A Makana councillor has been charged with human rights violations following "offensive" statements he made during a meeting with the land, housing and infrastructure development portfolio committee in September.
The committee’s chairperson, Zamuxolo Peter, offended employees of the technical and infrastructural services department by saying that he will not tolerate sloppy work, laziness and any "service delivery related sabotage" carried out by officials in the department.
Following the meeting, the eleven concerned staff members compiled a letter of complaint and sent it to the Human Rights Commission and also forwarded it to the executive mayor, municipal manager, premier of the Eastern Cape, MEC for local government and traditional affairs, provincial secretary of the ANC Women’s League, public protector, as well as deployee and Makana director Dabula Njilo.
The employees who filed the complaint are C Mbele, Bonani Nkonyeni, S Ponoshe, M January, Pakama Booi, Nomakula Ntontela, Martha Letsoalo, Clive Christian, Zuki Mkhuzo, N Godola and Thendo Masia.
During a mayoral meeting held in September following the allegations, Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart reported that, "In their letter of complaint, the aggrieved employees cited the following issues as the main causes of the dissatisfaction: local xenophobia, humiliation of officials regarding allegations of incompetence, offensive responses from the councillors during portfolio meetings, infringement of rights including officials not being allowed to respond when attacked by councillors and discrimination against officials due to political party affiliation."
Baart later convened a meeting with Mayor Vumile Lwana, chief whip Melikhaya Phongolo, the HR manager, the labour relations officer and the affected staff members.
"The purpose of such a meeting was to hear the details of their grievances and recommend the appropriate measures to be taken," Baart explained. "After a lengthy meeting, it was agreed that the aggrieved employees be afforded an opportunity until the next day [to indicate]the desired solution to the matter in writing."
The employees provisionally withdrew their complaints and opted to use the municipality’s grievance procedure, saying that they might have acted out of anger. However, Makana spokesperson Thandy Matebese said that so far only three of the eleven employees have withdrawn their complaint.
The eight remaining officials have requested time to consult "extensively". Baart said she has yet to receive confirmation on their intentions.
When contacted this week by <itals>Grocott’s Mail<end itals>, Peter refused to comment on the matter.
