Despite attempts by some to muddy the facts in the media, we are committed to maintaining the truth on this issue: it is about upholding the rule of law and putting residents first.

This is about righting the wrong of an unlawful decision taken by the previous Mayoral Committee of the ANC-led government, which was not about prioritising service delivery or protecting vulnerable employees: it was about cadre deployment at the expense of residents. R80 million a year to be precise.

Let me be clear on what we mean by political employees: every political head of government, from Mayors to MMCs, Presidents and Ministers, to Speakers and party caucuses within legislatures, require political staff to advise and run their offices. All of these employees across every sphere of government are employed on fixed-term contracts linked to the term of office of their politician. If the politician goes – they go.

Elections change the composition of legislatures – yesterday you had 120 seats and could employ a proportional number of staff to support them. Today you have 90 seats and the proportion of staff changes.

In 2021 the ANC saw the writing on the wall, and attempted to protect their people by unlawfully changing this convention which was protected in City policy. Political staff who are advisors, directors, media liaisons, office managers, researchers and the like who responded to adverts that are clearly stated as fixed to the term of the political principal, and who signed contracts that clearly stated fixed-term, were given an opportunity of permanent employment that was never the Mayoral Committee’s authority to give. This blanket approach of the mayoral committee included the staff who support the various party caucuses in Council, including the DA, EFF, IFP, and others.

These staff are in no-way linked to service delivery. Despite claims in the media, no-one has come forward with proof to the contrary.

It must be clear that all the affected staff still have their fixed-term contracts. None of them signed permanent contracts. All they received was a letter offering a conversion of their contract. No formal permanent contract was entered into.

We objected to the conversion in 2021, and when we came into government we conducted a legal review, which confirmed the Mayoral Committee’s decision as unlawful. Council has the Constitutional authority to review any decision of the Mayoral Committee, and this was done on 25 February, where Council set aside the decision and ordered the City Manager to address the matter.

The City Manager invited affected staff to urgently respond to the Council decision, and issued letters to confirm that all staff were properly informed. This was done through plain-clothed security officers. No dogs, no heavy arms. Despite engagements with unions, offers to extend deadlines for representations, and threats of legal action, no representation was made. There have been personal attacks in the media, smears on professional staff, and attempts to politicise and racialise the issue. It never was and will never be political or race-based.

It will always be about upholding the rule of law, preventing state capture, and ensuring that residents are served by an honest government that puts the needs of residents first and uses all available resources to deliver the best quality services.

As it stands the letter of conversion has been rendered null and void through the Council decision, and a lack of any substantial representation to date means that the fixed-term contracts of all affected employees stands. These will all terminate on 30 April 2022.

Once this date passes Council will finally be in a position to advertise new fixed-term contracts for political support staff in the Mayor’s Office, Speaker’s Office, and caucus offices, so that new parties like ActionSA can finally receive the support they deserve.

The Multi-Party Government is committed to providing the residents of Johannesburg with quality services and restoring Johannesburg as the City of Opportunities through our Golden Start. Further details of our priorities and programmes of action will be revealed by the Executive Mayor in the upcoming State of the City Address in April, which will be further detailed in the Budget Speech by the MMC of Finance in May.

Media enquiries:

McKinnley Mitchell
Deputy Director: Communications and Stakeholder Management
Office of the MMC for Group Corporate and Shared Services
mckinnleymitchell@gmail.com | 071 381 9789

Mabine Seabe
Director: Mayoral Communication
Private Office of the Executive Mayor
084 677 7851

11/03/2022