When taking office, the current DA-led multi-party government in Tshwane discovered that a number of beneficiaries of the EPWP program Vat Alles had no updated contracts with the City.
The City therefore required the current beneficiaries to sign updated contracts. This exercise also enabled us to eliminate so-called “ghost workers” from the City’s payroll.
This decision has provoked the ire of SAMWU, who also demands that EPWP workers be appointed on a permanent basis – a move that will see the City lose all national EPWP grant funding.
The City will not abandon the EPWP program as SAMWU’s demand entails. Losing national grant funding will make it impossible for the City to expand EPWP work opportunities.
We will instead reform the program, stop the abuse of beneficiaries for party political purposes, and end the system of insiders-and-outsiders which characterized EPWP recruitment in the past.
The City also refuses to contravene the law by paying employees and beneficiaries with whom we do not have written agreements.
Such payments will be deemed as “irregular expenditure” in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act, a practice which was rife under the former ANC administration in Tshwane.
Irregular expenditure is also to blame for much of the City’s current financial shortfalls. The DA-led multi-party government is determined to reverse this trend.
The truth is that only a minority of Vat Alles beneficiaries have refused to sign contracts with the City, and in them SAMWU seems to be looking for a new constituency.
Some of the beneficiaries who have refused sign have also failed to report for duty for a number of months. It is only after the “no work, no pay” principle was applied, that these individuals made their appearance.
We can only deliver on our mandate of change that creates jobs, stops corruption, and ensures service delivery if we manage the City’s finances responsibly.
We remain committed to workers’ rights, maintaining a good relationship with labour unions, and the ideal of a happy and productive workforce.