DURBAN - THE NFP has threatened to take Zululand Municipality to court over the dismissal of its managers whom the municipality said did not have the relevant qualifications.
The municipality said on Wednesday its verification process had revealed that out of 37 senior managers, seven did not meet the required qualifications in the position they occupied.
But NFP secretary-general Canaan Mdletshe said the party regarded the process as nothing but political purging by the mayor.
The municipality said of the seven, two had only matric while five had qualifications but not relevant to the work they were hired to do.
Mdletshe said of the five, some of them were members of his party and vowed to defend them. He claimed mayor Thulaziswe Buthelezi was purging them because they were NFP members.
He said the managers told him before being asked to resubmit their qualifications, that the mayor called them to his office and asked them one by one where they were during election campaign, because he had not met one during the IFP’s campaign.
He said Buthelezi accused them of campaigning for the NFP while they worked for the municipality under him and the IFP.
“We do not think it was a genuine process, but we view this as a political purging of staff aligned to us.
“The mayor has done the same thing to other staff who are our members who were given letters of transfer without consultation. We will defend our staff and we are ready to meet the mayor in court,” said Mdletshe.
He added it was wrong to suggest these managers were employed while the NFP was in charge, saying the two who had no qualifications had been there working for the IFP before NFP took over in 2011.
He said one manager, an NFP member, was hired last year in the position, while Buthelezi was the mayor.
He did not understand how he was hired while having the same qualification, which the municipality was now saying was not relevant.
Further, he said even if the degree was not relevant to the work the manager was doing, it was not his fault as he never misrepresented his qualification in the interview.
The panel that recommended him should take responsibility, Mdletshe added.
The municipality spokesperson Zanele Mthethwa said the managers who were found to be working without the proper qualifications would undergo disciplinary processes before their positions were advertised.
Meanwhile, the ANC Youth League in Zululand has also weighed in on the issue, threatening mass action against what it described as victimisation of non-IFP employees.
Lindo Xulu said if the mayor continued with the decision, they would mobilise mass action to force the mayor to reverse his decision.
DAILY NEWS