Mpho Phalatse, the mayor of Johannesburg, has defended the decision not to convert the contracts of 130 workers and turn them into permanent positions. Phalatse has taken a swipe at political parties and labour unions accusing them of “misleading the public” about the threat to fire 130 ANC staff workers.
Matshidiso Mfikoe, the former finance MMC of City of Johannesburg wrote a letter to Phalatse on her decision to reverse the conversion of 130 contacted workers to permanent workers, which had been declared under the ANC and ministration.
Mfikoe said Phalatse needs to meet and speak to the unions before they take the matter to court or embark on a street protest for the firing of the workers. “Council, as a legal entity, cannot rescind decisions that they did not make. The mayoral committee taking the report to council was wrong.”
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Phalatse said the Johannesburg Multi-Party Government (MPG) noted that unions and political parties made baseless statements in an attempt to hide the fact that contracts were given illegally. The public has not been presented with the fact that the former Mayoral Committee’s Office was set to convert fixed term contracts of workers and appoint them to senior positions.
“We are not dealing with a political or labour matter, but one of compliance with the law that was flouted when the former Mayoral Committee adopted a report, without Council’s approval, to convert the fixed-term contracts of senior staff attached to political offices”.
The City of Johannesburg stands by its decision saying the decision was irregular and all they are doing now its trying to correct the wrong that was done.
Source: IOL, Eyewitness News, image from Eyewitness News
