Today, together with my colleagues in the DA eThekwini caucus – Cllr Bheka Ntuli and Cllr Sithembiso Ngema, we laid criminal charges against senior ANC eThekwini leaders for their deliberate acts of restricting access to jobs and wilful violation of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act.
This follows a DA expose in August where, in a recording, Cllr Nelly Nyanisa, former Chief Whip of the ANC Caucus in eThekwini, can be heard addressing City Manager, Sipho Nzuza, and the head of Durban Solid Waste (DSW) in eThekwini, Raymond Rampersad, on how the process of hiring in UMlazi should be handled. In the recording, Cllr Nyanisa suggests that councillors should drive recruitment for the project and should only be open to the public when more people were required.
This is not only a gross abuse of power but it is a violation of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act, Act 12 of 2004 which clearly states that:
‘Any person who, directly or indirectly…carrying out or performance of any powers, duties or functions arising out of a constitutional, statutory, contractual or any other legal obligation… that amounts to the abuse of a position of authority…is guilty of the offence of corruption’.
The ANC sought to deliberately exclude members of the community from employment opportunities by directly interfering with the recruitment process. At a time when unemployment is at an all time high, ANC politicians have, in this instance, been exposed for using their positions to reserve jobs for comrades.
In addition to using their positions to influence municipal process, ANC councillors violated the code of conduct for councillors which requires them to perform their duties in good faith, honestly and transparently.
Political interference in the EPWP programme in KZN has become endemic to the point where hundreds of deserving people have been left out without jobs because employment lists are filled with ghost workers supplied by corrupt politicians.
EPWP jobs that were meant to provide relief to the unemployed, especially the youths, have now become scarce as a result of corrupt politicians who are only concerned with lining their pockets.
The DA’s commitment for a job in every home means that we will use every tool at our disposal to fight corruption that takes food away from the mouths of poor and unemployed South Africans.
An equal opportunity society should ensure that everyone has equal access to jobs and should not be unfairly discriminated against because of political affiliation. The DA’s fight for fair access to jobs will, among other interventions, remain focused on cleaning up the corruption that has crept into the EPWP sector.