THE SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) in Gauteng has accused the City of Tshwane’s coalition government under the DA and ActionSA of politicising employees’ disciplinary procedures.
This follows the suspension of five senior officials linked to the R295 million Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant tender irregularly awarded to businessman Edwin Sodi’s companies in 2019.
The union said it was concerned by the vilification of workers by political parties in Tshwane regarding the Rooiwal saga.
Gauteng provincial secretary Mpho Tladinyane said: “Moreover, the union condemns the unholy alliance between the DA and ActionSA, who have sought to politicise employee disciplinary procedures within the City. This move represents an overreach of authority and undermines collective bargaining in the sector.”
Last week, municipal manager Johann Mettler announced the suspension of the five senior officials pending its case at the Labour Court for review of the entire outcomes of the internal disciplinary process undertaken against them.
The City said it was unhappy with the outcomes which found the officials, branded the “Rooiwal Five”, guilty of one of the four charges they faced.
The guilty verdict stemmed from the fact that they evaluated the winning bidder on a 1.4 metre belt width when the specification required a width of 2 metres.
Tladinyane said the employees adhered to the disciplinary code of conduct and underwent nearly year-long disciplinary hearings.
“Eventually, they were cleared of all charges except one. Following a guilty verdict on this single charge, the chairperson of the hearing ruled that the employees should be suspended for one month without pay,”he said.
He questioned the City’s move to suspend the employees and review the sanction instead of implementing it, saying it was influenced by the DA-ActionSA collaboration.
“This move is unfair to the workers as there is already a sanction in place. Moreover, it constitutes double jeopardy for the employees as they are now suspended for a matter that has already been concluded. In the letter to suspend these employees, the City claims that the “trust relationship has broken down irretrievably.” However, this assertion contradicts the fact that these employees were entrusted by the City to spearhead several projects just a week before being suspended,”Tladinyane said.
The union said it was not surprising that the “ill-conceived and illegal” move came from the DA and ActionSA.
“Both parties have already begun making public statements alleging corruption against these employees, despite the lack of evidence as they were neither charged nor found guilty of corruption by the disciplinary hearing,” the union said.
Tladinyane said: “It is also evident that the DA-ActionSA unholy alliance and the City have embarked on an unfair process aimed at singling out these employees despite their lack of authority to award tenders and their non-involvement in any tender awarding process, with their role only limited to the evaluation of tenders.”
Pretoria News