Cape Town – Former ANC councillor and poo protester Loyiso Nkohla is still employed by the City of Cape Town – for now.
Nkohla, who left the ANC in support of the DA last year ahead of the August 3 municipal elections, was awarded a cushy job as executive support officer to the former mayoral committee member for utility services, Ernest Sonnenberg.
However his appointment, which came with a R700 000 annual salary, might come to an end soon.
Nkohla, who used to harshly criticise the DA-led government in the province during protests where human faeces were dumped at the entrance of the provincial legislature, ruffled feathers when he supported the party, and subsequently got the job in September last year.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane, who questioned the appointment due to the criminal cases against Nkohla, met with mayor Patricia de Lille and gave officials until December to remedy the situation.
And in December Sonnenberg resigned from the city council to become a manager at sub-council 22, which in turn ended Nkohla’s contract, which was tied to Sonnenberg’s tenure as mayoral committee member for utility services.
Mayor Patricia de Lille’s spokesperson, Pierrine Leukes, told Independent Media that Nkohla was still in the same post.
“Loyiso Nkohla is still employed by the City of Cape Town in the same position; further announcements will be made in due course,” she said.
She added that his contract had not been extended, but rather he was now in a "grace period".
Last year, Nkohla endorsed and campaigned for the DA ahead of the elections, with a following of hundreds of ANC supports who joined the DA.
It remained unclear whether the DA will deploy Nkohla elsewhere; this as rumours circulate that he might be to sent to Nelson Mandela Bay, where the party recently took control.
Xolani Joja, who was among the 200 Ses’khona members who left the ANC to join the DA, said they had no regrets since leaving.
“When we left the ANC we were labelled as sellouts who had been promised jobs and given money by the DA to join them, which was simply not true,” he said.
“Some issues have been resolved, and we are confident we did the right thing.
“We understand that it won't happen overnight, but we will work with the DA until they run the country.
“We did not leave the ANC because of the factionalism but simply because they failed to deliver on promises. We warned them as Ses’khona in 2012 that if they failed to meet their promises we would align ourselves with a party that can, and we did just that,” Joja said.