Opposition parties have taken the Nelson Mandela Bay coalition government to task over a plan to use the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) to pay for political appointments, potentially giving rise to irregular expenditure.
The proposal was mooted after opposition parties complained that their caucus administrative officers were not hired by the municipality after the change in political leadership in the metro in May.
Instead, the parties were told by the coalition government that such appointments would now be considered under the EPWP.
Opposition party members said the situation arose because the coalition government appointed more than its agreed share of caucus administrative officers, leaving opposition parties high and dry.
Since 2021, 15 caucus positions have been shared among the political parties.
The ruling coalition’s move is at odds with a 2017 council resolution that secured the employment of caucus officers for all parties in the chief whip’s office, according to representatives of several opposition parties.
After the 2021 local government elections, the DA and ANC were allocated two caucus officers each, while the smaller parties were allocated one appointee each.
Caucus officers conduct research for councillors and assist with other administrative work.
DA councillor Retief Odendaal said using the EPWP to make political appointments would be unethical and was not in line with the programme’s mandate.
“There is a national grant for EPWP and the municipality tops it up.
“There are also strict policies that govern it and I can assure you the National Treasury will not take it lightly.”
He said though caucus support officers differed from other political appointments, it was wrong that ratepayers would be expected to pay more for political parties.
“It is unacceptable for residents to pay more because political parties want more deployees,” he said.
Odendaal has since written to mayor Gary van Niekerk, asking him to rectify the situation.
“I was advised that the new coalition government has divided all of the caucus support positions between themselves, thereby depriving the DA of any support whatsoever.
“This is quite frankly unacceptable,” he in the letter sent on June 26.
“Even worse is the fact that the solution offered by your administration is that we should abuse EPWP funding to make temporary appointments until council approves an amended structure which will see additional caucus support staff be appointed.
“This is absolutely ludicrous and I want to caution against such an approach.
“Apart from anticipating a massive backlash from the public once they hear that EPWP funding is being utilised to fund political appointees, amending the organigram to accommodate more political staff will equally be viewed in an extremely negative light.”
Van Niekerk’s chief of staff, Vasu Padayachy, said he would meet council chief whip Wandisile Jikeka.
“I have requested a copy of the resolution and I will be attending a meeting with the chief whip to discuss this matter,” he said.
Odendaal, meanwhile, said he had sent the resolution to Padayachy.
“There will be serious repercussions for them should they not rectify this and we will make sure the council deals with it accordingly,” Odendaal said.
Jikeka could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom said the withdrawal of the opposition’s caucus officers was against the principle of why such posts were created.
“These appointments are especially crucial for PR councillors who have absolutely no infrastructure to do their work,” he said.
“I had to let go the person I had employed since 2021.
“Now there is no-one to pick up phones or assist with complaints.
“The municipality can make up to 55 political appointments through the office of the mayor, speaker and chief whip.
“They want to frustrate us and make sure we are not working and can’t hold them accountable but that will not happen,” Grootboom said.
DOP councillor Tukela Zumani said the absorption by the coalition government of caucus officer positions meant for other parties was tantamount to theft.
“It will most probably lead to irregular expenditure and we will not be party to their attempt to regularise it.”
GOOD regional leader Siyanda Mayana said: “We are not going to let this slide, we will fight it.”
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