Siyavuya Mzantsi
THE ANC caucus leaders in the city council say the recent spate of resignations by the city’s black executive directors was a “witch-hunt” against black professionals who were not DA inclined.
During the first ANC caucus press conference this year, chief whip Xolani Sotashe claimed that corporate services executive director Tshidi Mayimele-Hashatse was forced to resign.
Mayimele-Hashatse and the city’s human settlements executive director, Seth Maqetuka, recently resigned.
“We are told she resigned for very personal reasons and we want to distinguish what is the reason between personal and very personal. We are not told of these personal reasons. We have not spoken to the persons affected, but we know the facts and we got the facts the way we wanted to get them,” Sotashe said.
But the city said the resignations of both Mayimele-Hashatse and Maqetuka were not related to their performance.
Mayor Patricia de Lille’s spokeswoman, Pierrinne Leukes, said they both resigned of their own volition for personal reasons.
Leukes said a post of a senior manager in the Corporate Services Directorate was null and void because the executive director did not follow due process.
“The accusations regarding the appointment of a senior manager to drive employment equity being taken away from advocate Mayimele-Hashatse are therefore devoid of truth.
“The position of director: Employment Equity was advertised by the Corporate Services Directorate on October 18 and 19, 2014 with a closing date of January 31, 2015, without the position having been approved by the mayoral committee as required in terms of council’s delegations of power,” Leukes said.
Sotashe claimed more than six non-white executives were fired since the DA took over the municipality in 2006.
“Advocate Tshangela was an executive director for safety and security. He had a settlement with the city to leave and the information was not brought forward whether he was asked to resign because of his ability to manage the department. When he left, he fought and eventually had a settlement with the city,” Sotashe said.
He said new rules were instituted to prevent his party from asking questions during council meetings.
“Mayimele-Hashatse was the director for corporate services who was responsible for a number of crucial areas, including employment equity. This important area of work was taken away from her and she was prevented from employing a senior manager to drive employment equity,” Sotashe said.
He said the city tried to suggest that Mayimele-Hashatse was not competent to do her job and second-guessed her decisions to transform the city’s senior level staffing.
He said his party would call on the public protector to investigate the city.