Durban - The ANC-controlled Durban Metro is letting go of workers to hire 113 former Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) veterans, 39 of whom were convicted of crimes after democracy in 1994.
The crimes include assault, drug-trafficking and theft.
Details of the appointments, meant to come into effect on May 1 have emerged in a thread of e-mails seen by The Sunday Independent this week.
The veterans will be employed as safety and security personnel.
It emerged in the e-mail correspondence that the employment process had been fast-tracked with the relevant forms and an induction, already completed.
However, it has not yet been signed off by the City’s manager, Sbu Sithole.
In 1994 members of MK were integrated into the newly established South African National Defence Force.
Tozi Mthethwa, head of the City’s communications unit, confirmed they were considering employing the veterans.
She said it was a cost-cutting measure aimed at replacing outsourced security with people employed by the city.
She said the appointment was being considered as part of the government’s draft military veterans’ policy to improve the quality of life of veterans and their dependants.
“Significant savings will be made as a result of the in-sourcing of security personnel. We are in the process of undertaking an assessment of all areas where security is provided with the intention of reducing the costs. A report will be tabled at Exco once the process has been finalised,” she said.
Mthethwa said the veterans would be employed as safety and security personnel who would be responsible for safeguarding municipal assets worth billions of rand and would be protecting councillors.
However, The Sunday Independent has established from the e-mails that most of those that will be employed have already been screened. Of the 113 only 12 are yet to undergo a screening process.
Forty-five of those screened have criminal records for cases that include assault, drug-trafficking and theft. Nine were sentenced before 1994, and 37 after 1994. Nineteen of the crimes took place in the last 10 years.
The Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), which is a regulatory body for all safety and security personnel, confirmed those with criminal records for scheduled offences were not allowed to work in the security industry.
These include the crimes of drug-trafficking, assault and theft which the MK veterans that are earmarked for the jobs have committed.
“Psira has strict policies when it comes to this. If an employee has committed any major crime (scheduled offence) they cannot work as security personnel and PSIRA is there to regulate this. There is also a 10-year waiting period. If a crime was committed 10 years ago then a person’s criminal record may be reviewed and they could be considered for employment. The review depends on the circumstances of the crime committed,” said PSIRA spokeswoman Siziwe Zuma.
Spokesman for the KwaZulu-Natal Correctional Services department Thulani Mdluli said reintegration was fundamental in every department, be it security or education. “We are always trying to rehabilitate prisoners and to send them back into the working environment so that they can lead normal lives,” he said.
The Sunday Independent was able to speak to some of the veterans who confirmed they were in the process of being employed by the city. They expressed gratitude for the opportunity.
Veteran Vusi Mbatha, 59, who spent years 24 years in Angola, said: “I am really grateful to be part of this initiative steered by the municipality to employ former cadres. This is a sign that government is starting to value the role we played during the struggle years”.
Another cadre, Mncwabe Lawrence, 56, who spent four years of his life in an MK camp in Angola, also lauded the move.
“I have been waiting for this opportunity since the dawn of democracy in 1994 ,” he said, adding he has never had a formal job in his life.
He said he felt at some point the government had turned a blind eye on the veterans’ contribution to the liberation struggle.
Sunday Independent