The ANC-run eThekwini municipality has once again been left red-faced after the Auditor-General (AG) raised concerns about its failure to fill 16,555 vacant positions.
Some of the positions have not been filled for over 15 years and this comes at a time when the country is battling high unemployment.
At full capacity, the eThekwini municipality has 40,550 positions.
NEWS: The ANC-run eThekwini municipality has once again been left red-faced after the AG (Auditor-General) raised concerns about its failure to fill 16 555 vacant positions. Some of the positions have not been filled for over 15 years and this comes at a time when the country
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) October 12, 2023
In a batch of communication between the AG’s office and the municipality, it was revealed that eThekwini faring badly when it comes to filling the vacant positions when compared with the DA-run City of Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape.
According to the batch of information seen by IOL, the exchange took place between April and May this year.
In July this year, a process was started to address the concerns of the AG and strangely, instead of filling the positions by hiring the needed staff, the municipality decided to “delete” some of the vacant positions.
The City Manager, Musa Mbhele, gave the process to delete the vacant positions the green light on September 9, 2023.
“In order to circumvent this situation of being above the 10 percent threshold and to comply with the DPSA guidelines as well as addressing the Auditor General's concern, it is appropriate to clean up the organisational structure by deleting long-standing vacant and unfunded posts that are 15 and above years old but never been filled.
“The Organisational Development and Change Management (ODCM) Unit will be undertaking this exercise starting in September 2023.
“They will have to consult with Human Capital and Line Departments / Units,” Mbheli wrote to deputy city managers and unit heads.
UPDATE: EThekwini City Manager, Musa Mbhele, tells the ongoing SALGA gathering in that they are facing 2489 civil claims from different people and for different issues. Some of the lawsuits are for road accidents caused by potholes left unattended by the city and other issues.
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) October 12, 2023
Mbhele added that this should be done within six months.
“This exercise should take six months to complete, therefore, ODCM must start immediately to clean-up the Municipality Organisational Structure,” he said.
“The Unit Heads are hereby requested to cooperate with ODCM unit in this process. Failure to cooperate may result to such posts being deleted without consultation.”
The municipality’s spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana, said the circular signed by Mbhele refers to the organisational structure posts that were created during the institutional review amendments, these posts have never been funded.
According to her, the municipality’s plan is to delete them to clean the structure and leave only posts that are funded and are required by each department.
“They range from various levels, but a lot of them are General Assistants and clerical posts and are not linked to any unit business plans.
“The municipal organizational structure was last reviewed 15 years ago, with the exception of units minor amendments, hence the long outstanding posts.
“The City’s vacancy rate is currently sitting at 12%, and these posts are part of the discussion in a workforce planning committee where all clusters are represented and are given an opportunity to motivate for posts that are critical in their departments,” she said.
***This article has been updated to add a comment from the municipality.
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