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ActionSA notes and supports the approach of its Tshwane Mayor, Dr Nasiphi Moya, to the disappointing ruling by the South African Local Bargaining Council’s (SALBC) ruling that the officials suspended for the unlawful award of a tender to Edwin Sodi in 2019. 

The judgement of the SALBC found the process followed by the previous government led by Cilliers Brink to be incorrect and, on this basis alone, ordered the return of the officials and punitive compensation in the amount of R2 million. 

It is apparent that the SALBC took issue with the fact, from a procedural point of view, that the officials were not suspended during the investigation (when it is legally permissible to suspend) but only after the disciplinary hearing when the City appealed the outcome of the disciplinary hearing. In other words, the failure of the Brink government to suspend the officials during the investigation was the basis of the finding against the City.

ActionSA sympathises that its Tshwane Mayor has inherited this mess along with a legacy of financial distress and disparate service delivery. The communicated approach of the City of Tshwane to study the judgement and receive proper legal advice is the responsible approach to ensure that the City is protected both from further costs as well as compromised officials returning to the City. 

It is ironic that the DA in opposition has opportunistically politicked on this very issue when they are the party leading government for both the time in which the tender was awarded to Edwin Sodi as well as the time period in which the process to suspend the officials was evidently mismanaged. 

ActionSA is comforted by the knowledge that the process to study of the options available to the City will be guided by the fact that this tender was unlawful, resulted in the delay of the project to address the water crisis in Hammanskraal and cost the City and its residents dearly. 

The City of Tshwane, under the leadership of Dr Moya, has already begun the work of turning around the City and addressing its considerable backlogs. The resolution of the debt R7 billion debt crisis with ESKOM, the efforts to resolve the labour disputes with unions, the work to address backlogs in street light and pothole repair and many other features of Tshwane’s service delivery speaks volumes of how the City is being effectively led. This, and not the cheap politicking of an increasingly embarrassed former mayor now in opposition, is what matters to residents and this is why Dr Moya, and her government, will continue to receive the full support of her party.

Issued by ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont