THE City of Ekurhuleni will reduce its top management positions from 186 to 110.
This will result in the municipality saving about R146.6-million, which will be directed to downward structures that deal directly with service delivery, the ANC Ekurhuleni Caucus said in a statement on Thursday last week.
The caucus believes this is a true reflection of a conscious, mass based and service delivery driven municipality.
The ANC caucus chief whip of Ekurhuleni, Clr Jongizizwe Dlabathi, said: “We welcome the proposed structure because there’s rationale behind the reasons and most importantly, it meets all the legislative requirements. Furthermore, this is aimed at reviewing the structure we have to ensure that it permits us to deliver services to our people.
“This is to ensure we have a capable municipality, looking at the structure to avoid duplication in terms of responsibilities and ensure cost cutting. But the most fundamental reason is to ensure that we operate with the structure that will enable the institution to accelerate service delivery.”
The statement said the ANC caucus in Ekurhuleni was pleased with the outright approval of the rationalisation of the municipal top and macro structure. The new structure was adopted at an extra-ordinary council meeting in Germiston Council Chambers on August 24.
Legislation dictates that the new administration elected into office must rationalise its structure within the first 12 months after the inception of the new administration. After rigorous engagements in oversight committees, council has now approved the first phase of the review.
In the meantime, the DA in Ekurhuleni said the ANC had once again failed residents by using its coalition-majority vote to push the restructuring through in an effort to create ‘jobs for pals’.
Clr Phillip de Lange, the DA leader in Ekurhuleni, said in a statement: “This controversial item, which the DA strongly opposed due to its non-compliance of legislation, does not give any indication of how the new proposed staff establishment will address the mandate and service delivery priorities of the municipality.
“Furthermore, no job descriptions, duties, functions or responsibilities have been provided for the newly proposed positions. The council also neglected to highlight the financial implications of the changes to positions and restructuring,” De Lange said.
“The item also seeks to abolish positions but continue to pay employees for the remainder of their contracts, without any consultation with unions. The newly approved structure also aims to provide all MMCs with four bodyguards. We question the motive behind this move. Is it a necessity or a mere ploy to appoint more cadres?”
The ANC thoughtlessly approved the item, which ultimately the ratepayers of this metro will foot the bill for the added human resources cost, he added.
“While the DA believes in job creation and delivering services to the residents of Ekurhuleni, the implementation of this item has not undergone the necessary cost analysis and has not been clearly defined.”
