A Mpumalanga acting municipal manager has cost her council more than R3m in the past three months on personal protection services and to be shielded against picketing employees.
The Steve Tshwete local municipality in Middelburg has so far paid R3.6m to hire 15 guards to protect acting manager Thokozile Nkosi from her colleagues who have been picketing outside the council offices in solidarity of the 13 employees who were suspended for going on unprotected wage strike about three months ago.
Masenyeletje Protection and Security Services was paid R1.1m in May, R1.4m in June and R1.1m last month for their services, which include the guards and their four vehicles, according to documents from the municipality's financial department signed by Zulu.
According to the document, the reason given for this expenditure was: “Threats to life and assets possible destruction”.
However, a councillor in the municipality claims the “deviation” was not brought to council nor did it go to a bidding process.
“They tried when the 60 days to approve deviation was left with only two days to have the council approve last week. We rejected it and that means that's a fruitless and wasteful expenditure because council didn't approve it,” said EFF caucus leader Joseph Ngubeni.
“When we went to council last week we wanted to know where these security guards were coming with their big guns heavier than those of the police. We couldn't get an answer. There was no threat assessment done and secondly, we already have a company that's providing security services and has a contract with the municipality, why they did not call them to beef up security if there was a threat,” asked Ngubeni.
One of the suspended employees said they were told to go and sit at home without having undergone through a disciplinary hearing for striking over salary. They then started picketing outside their offices demanding to return to work. Nkosi had signed their suspension letters.
“Other employees decided to join and be in solidarity with us and that's when the municipal manager started getting body guards and services collapsed,” said the worker who didn't want to be named for fear of victimisation.
The municipality told Sowetan that they charged the employees for embarking on an unprotected strike and for bringing its name into disrepute.
“The employees were suspended in June because they misconducted themselves in various manners during unprotected strike; charges are soon to be formulated now that allegations have been verified. They entail among others things threats to other employees rendering services, putting name of the municipality into disrepute, misleading employees and perpetuating unprotected strike,” said municipal spokesperson Prudence Magutle.
She said the protection services were not solely for the protection of an individual but the entire municipality.
“This information [amount] is known only to Sowetan not even the municipality is aware of that amount,” said Magutle.
Zulu refused to comment yesterday and referred all questions to Magutle.
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