DA wants to remove young black professionals to make space for whiteness — Joburg opposition parties

Opposition parties in the City of Johannesburg have accused the DA of wanting to remove “young black professionals to make space for whiteness”.

Speaking during a press conference at the Metro centre in Braamfontein, the African Independent Congress (AIC), Al-Jamaah, the PAC and the African Heart Congress said they would meet the multi-party coalition in court if need be.

Chairing the briefing was AIC councillor and chairperson of the minority bloc Margaret Arnolds.

AIC councillor Themba Mhlongo said the DA was showing its true colours. “We strongly condemn the action of the DA and its partners. They're starting to show their true colours of being anti-black.

“How on earth could they want to reverse the conversion of these young black professionals from their legally employed positions considering the high rate of unemployment. They're hell-bent on destroying the lives of these young professionals.

“They want to import their whites from the Western Cape to come in and work in the City of Johannesburg,” Mhlongo said.

During a council meeting on February 25, council resolved to rescind the conversion of fixed-term contracts to permanent posts of 130 employees.

Last week, the city wrote to the workers, asking them to motivate why they should keep their jobs and also to assist the municipality in how to regularise their appointments, which the multi-party coalition labelled “illegal” appointments.

As a result, a stalemate ensued between the workers and the city, with the SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) threatening legal action.

During a question-and-answer session, Arnolds said that current coalition partners, the PA and the IFP, had supported the conversion, back when the city was under an ANC-led coalition. “The IFP had people in housing and transport during the coalition. The PA also supported it,” she said.

Al-Jamaah councillor Thapelo Amad argued that a lot of councillors from the opposition benches were absent during the vote. “We only had a 10-hour difference from the meeting of the 24th until before the meeting of the 25th, so a lot of councillors were not present during the meeting.

“Council also voted without a headcount having being done and this goes to show the irregular manner in which council is being directed,” Amad said.

Amad said the multi-party coalition was driving a narrative that they were better than other parties.

“If there are any irregularities that have happened, let them normalise those and be the first to champion service delivery, which is the form of employment opportunities,” Amad said.