Johannesburg - Gauteng Premier’s Office has slammed ActionSA’s media briefing aimed at the Nasi iSpani jobs programme.
On Wednesday, ActionSA Gauteng provincial chairperson Funzi Ngobeni announced, during a media briefing, the launch of legal steps that the party seeks to take in a bid to stop Premier Panyaza Lesufi from using the provincial government’s Nasi iSpani employment programme to employ ANC volunteers.
Last month, at the start of youth month, Lesufi launched this programme, which seeks to attract 8 000 young people to job opportunities across the province.
At the time, Lesufi said the jobs advertised through the campaign were meant to help deal with load shedding, crime and the state of the economy post-Covid-19.
The project kicked off on June 16, with at least 32 pop-up sites set up across the province to help applicants access these opportunities easier.
While others spent their Youth Day at soccer tournaments and marches, hundreds of job seekers took time to apply for advertised jobs at various pop-up sites.
It is reported that at least 50 000 applications were received during this period, with the province having extended the deadline to accommodate coloured people, Indians and other races to also take part in the programme.
However, ActionSA said it was not convinced that this programme is being used transparently and honestly.
Ngobeni said since its launch, the programme had been plagued by allegations that ANC volunteers had been favoured in employment in the run-up to the 2024 elections and that the CVs of a number of applicants were discarded.
“It has become very clear to us that Lesufi and the ANC in Gauteng are desperate to make all efforts to retain the majority in the province in the upcoming 2024 elections. Consequently, after receiving hundreds of complaints from the youth whose applications were rejected, we now have a reason to believe that the programme was always intended to be used as a tool to hire ANC cadres,” Ngobeni said.
He said this had prompted ActionSA to take a legal route to ensure that the programme is not abused to further ANC ends by hiring its volunteers.
“We simply cannot ignore the cries of our communities, which is why we have embarked on a legal process for the Gauteng provincial government to release the employment documents of all those who were hired under the Nasi iSpani programme.”
The party said it would be undertaking a legal process in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
“According to legislation, the provincial government must respond within 30 days, failing which ActionSA will lodge a PAIA appeal,” Ngobeni said.
However, speaking to The Star, spokesperson for the premier, Vuyo Mhaga, said ActionSA’s actions were nothing short of a publicity stunt as the programme intake was still under way.
“How do you launch a court issue that is not concluded? The process is only closing on July 14, and people submit their CVs online.”
“ActionSA seems to be enjoying the fact that people are unemployed; the Gauteng government will not be deterred from providing jobs to the people of Gauteng and economic opportunities.”
“ActionSA has nothing negative to say about the ANC-led government, so they are trying to be creative to find fault with this government. What the Gauteng government is doing is implementing the directives from Sopa (State of the Province Address) 2023,” Mhaga said.
The Star