Durban - The Newcastle mayor, Ntuthuko Mahlaba, did not have his priorities in place
when he decided on a trip to China,
leaving the municipality in a stink,
opposition party members and the ratepayers’ association said.
Of concern was an unresolved
labour-related issue between the municipality and over 200 employees, who
have been on suspension with full pay
since late last month, pending disciplinary processes.
It was the rationale behind accepting
the trip that has caused a stir in the
opposition camps.
Municipal spokesperson Dr Dumisani Thabethe this week said the employees were still on suspension and the
disciplinary processes had not begun.
“The mayor and municipal manager
were abroad and they only returned
to work (on Tuesday). Operations are carrying
on at the municipality, although there
are gaps because we are operating on a
skeleton staff, but all is on track. The
suspensions have not been dealt with
yet because of the absence of the mayor
and the manager,” Thabethe said.
Mahlaba and acting municipal
manager Musi Mayisela were in China
to attend the three-day 2019 World
Conference on Virtual Reality, held in
Nanchang from October 19 to 21.
The municipality’s Development
Planning and Human Settlements Portfolio was invited by China to attend the
conference, but the DA’s caucus leader
in the municipality, Bebsie Cronje, said
they had objected to the trip being taken
but were outvoted.
“We objected because of the financial situation of our town, but that fell
on deaf ears. It made no sense to leave
a mess behind because of a conference
in China. Refuse removal in Newcastle
has been a disaster for the last few weeks.
“The department is trying their best
to collect as much as they can, but there
are a lot of challenges and the areas are
huge. How can you go gallivanting in
China while things fall apart at home?
They’ve got their priorities wrong,”
Cronje said.
IFP Newcastle councillor Xolani
Dube said he was aware of the dire
situation in the municipality, but could
not comment further at the time of
publication.
Phil Hair, Newcastle Ratepayers’
Association secretary, said refuse removal
was sometimes delayed for over a week
because of a shortage of staff.
The municipality suspended the
employees after a protest over non-payment of overtime last month.
At the time, the Daily News reported
that the protesters engaged in a physical
confrontation with the mayor and his
bodyguards. Mahlaba was struck on the
face with a brick.
Among those suspended are general workers, including security, fire
department officers and traffic personnel, and six shop stewards belonging to
the South African Municipal Workers’
Union (Samwu).
The union said it backed its members,
adding the municipality was at fault by
not communicating the non-payment
of overtime with the employees.
“This situation was caused by the
employer by allowing our members to
work overtime while knowing there was
no money to pay them,” said Samwu
provincial secretary Jaycee Ncanana.