Africa-Press – South-Africa. The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) says the City of Johannesburg has no legal grounds for reversing the employment contracts of 130 employees without a court order.
The battle about the fixed-term contracts of political staffers has caused a back-and-forth battle between the City of Joburg and Samwu.
In representations of the 130 workers, Samwu said only a court could reverse a council decision to turn fixed-term workers’ contracts into permanent agreements.
Last year, the original council decision was taken while the ANC governed the City.
It saw the contracts of 130 staffers converted to permanent. But the DA-led multiparty coalition government passed a council resolution that overturned the ANC’s sponsored council decision.
City of Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse said legal consultations had advised that the ANC-led mayoral committee’s resolution in October 2021 was illegal.
City of Joburg contract saga: Union ‘threats will not deter us’, says Mayor Phalatse
In February, a council resolution reversed the decision, and workers were sent notices requesting them to make representations explaining how their contracts were converted.
At first, Samwu and the workers had resisted making representations, citing the need to seek legal opinion. However, on 9 March, the union filed representations.
The union said:
These representations came hours after acting city manager Mesuli Mlandu issued a directive.
The directive stated that a council resolution had been taken to reverse the contract conversions.
In the directive, Mlandu wrote to Dr H Labuschagne, group executive for corporate and shared services, stating the process to be followed as the contracts were set to expire at the end of April.
The job exit requirements of the City will begin, and the recruitment process for the positions will begin.
The positions that should be advertised have to be filled by 1 May, Mlandu said in the management directive seen by News24.
Phalatse’s spokesperson, Mabine Seabe, confirmed the directive.
Seabe said no one was being fired and that the directive confirmed the reversal of the “illegal mayoral committee resolution”.
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