Cape Town - The South African Municipal Workers Union has accused the City of Cape Town of flouting its own human resources policies after the City dismissed a report that found member for Safety and Security JP Smith guilty of irregularly appointing Petrus (Robbie) Roberts director for Law Enforcement, traffic and co-ordination.
“We have very good reason to believe that the rot is deep within the City’s administration. We have workers who have been working for the City for over 20 years and they are stuck in the same position. The question is where is the money going to? It’s going to top managers. We are fighting on a daily basis,” said Xolile Nceye of Samwu.
He said that for years they had raised concerns with the City but these had fallen on deaf ears.
The report tabled before council was during a closed session on Thursday and the council voted not to adopt the report.
The confidential report on allegations of “nepotism and abuse of power” was leaked to the media and irate workers and opposition political parties are pressing the DA-led council to take action against implicated officials.
The ANC and Samwu said the City was attempting to “sweep under the carpet” a report by law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr which found that the process of appointing former policeman Roberts to a senior position in Law Enforcement was irregular, defective and inconsistent with the human resources policy.
“I think with all this information it shows how deep the rot is and now we can see why we have encountered so many problems with equality in the workplace here in the City because they are fragmenting the working force. I can understand now because this all means that there is something very wrong with the administration,” Nceye said.
The report showed email correspondence between Smith, Roberts and safety and security director Richard Bosman in relation to Roberts’ offer even before the position was created.
The report also recommended that the council Speaker institute an investigation into the conduct of Smith in the “irregular” appointment of Roberts and that disciplinary proceedings be instituted against Bosman.
The ANC City caucus leader Xolani Sotashe said: “What is disappointing is the fact that the Speaker of the council is so scared of JP Smith. We are now going to request for the City to provide us with answers as to how much money was spent to appoint this independent investigative team.
“We also we want Roberts to pay back the money he earned because that position is ‘null and void’.”
Council Speaker Dirk Smit said: “The document was confidential at first and it was deliberated in a closed meeting. But the document is now public. I will be getting an outside legal opinion on the matter.”
@MarvinCharles17