Aftermath of coalitions worries council employees

As coalition negotiations continue, Tshwane and Joburg municipal employees are worried they will lose their jobs.

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Johannesburg - As the negotiations for coalition governments continue, municipal employees in Tshwane and Joburg are depressed about the possibility of losing their jobs.

While a DA takeover in Tshwane is likely after the party won more votes than the ANC, a DA takeover in Joburg also looks probable because the possibility of a DA-EFF coalition looms large.

As the reality of the imminent change of political administration hits home, staff members expressed fear for the new era. Some City of Joburg employees in the mayor’s office and the legislature told The Star on Wednesday that they were gravely concerned about the future, having had no concrete news about a coalition.

“We are reporting for work every day, but there is a lot of uncertainty. There is also no word from our bosses. It’s worse that they also seem uncertain about their future,” said an employee in the mayor’s office.

Another employee said: “I personally want to know soon if I still have a job or not. I have so many financial responsibilities and commitments, so it’s better if I know.”

The DA mayoral candidate for Joburg Herman Mashaba told The Star on Tuesday that while he would not purge employees willy-nilly, a shake-up in the metro was likely.

In Tshwane, staff members in the metro said they feared they may be kicked out of their jobs by the DA under mayor-elect Solly Msimanga.

Others, including the city’s spokesman Selby Bokaba, took to social media to express their frustrations.

Bokaba likened the mood at the Isivuno House municipal headquarters to a funeral, saying it was very quiet. He posted on his Facebook page “Mo tirong go didimetse, ekete re mo phitlhong (The workplace is very quiet, it feels like a funeral)”.

He was replying to another blogger named Molebatsi Mogwere, who had commented that many municipal workers feared being booted out of their positions because they were hired without the requisite qualifications.

Mogwere had written that people were scared of losing their jobs because the DA had signalled that it would get rid of those without higher education qualifications.

With regard to a comment about qualifications, Bokaba replied:”O opile kgomo lonaka (You are telling the truth)”.

That came barely a day after the DA hosted a rally at Freedom Park to celebrate its election victory. Msimanga did not help matters by declaring that he would change the leadership of the Tshwane metro police department if he took over the highest office in the city.

He hinted that some employees would be retrained, but was sure that the days of chief of police Steven Ngobeni were numbered.

He said the top cop would be replaced by a career policeman.

Msimanga said he had no intention of purging workers, but that has done little to reassure the employees.

Tension has also prevailed at the mayoral base in Centurion, where workers fear the worst if the DA takes over the city’s political office.

Those in the know said imminent changes would affect mostly contract workers, especially those who held political positions.

Although permanent workers believed their jobs were safe, they were deeply worried that they might be redeployed to other departments.

The workers were concerned their posts would be rendered redundant as the new mayor could employ his own people into their positions. This comes as political parties are racing against time to strike coalition deals next week.

The Gauteng ANC provincial executive committee said on Wednesday they were concerned that the ANC did not receive more than 50 percent of the votes in the cities of Joburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Mogale.

“In the six municipalities where the ANC received over 50 percent of votes, governments must be constituted without any delay,” it said.

Joburg was to hold its mock council on Thursday. City manager Trevor Fowler confirmed the inaugural council meeting will be on Tuesday.

The Star