MBOMBELA – It has been 18 months since the local traffic chief was first put on special leave and as yet there appears to be no resolution in sight. Mr Eddie Prolius was put on special leave in April 2013 following accusations of racism by some traffic officials. He has been drawing a full salary, paid by taxpayers, ever since, despite not working.
No decision has yet been taken on his future: will he return to work or be transferred to another unit? Mr Noko Seanego, corporate services manager at Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM) says management agrees that Prolius must return to work. “It is so wrong that he sits at home drawing a salary paid by taxpayers. We must find a conclusion as soon as possible.”
When that conclusion will come, however, he cannot guess, since a report on the original investigation was never presented. “The former municipal manager (MM) Mr Xolani Mzobe investigated the allegations but the report was never presented. We can’t find it any-where.” So MLM has embar-ked anew on assessing the validity of the complaint against Prolius. “We are trying to establish what the issues really are, to determine if he will be transferred to another unit or return to his former position. We must now finalise the matter.”
Mzobe was dismissed in November of last year, almost a year ago and Seanego says he doesn’t know exactly when the absence of the investigation report came to their attention nor when the acting MM Mr Sello Ditshego started looking into the matter.
Last week Lowvelder reported on a protest by some community services employees at the municipality. They called yet again for Prolius’ removal. Seanego confirmed that some of their employees within the traffic department were dead set against his return.
“There is anger in the unit of people who don’t want him back. When we try to speak to these guys we don’t get a logical explanation. The anger disrupts the progress of the assessment. It is only some of them and they have their own reasons.”
These are unclear and finding a solution to breaking the impasse between management and traffic is up to Ditshego. Mr Joseph Ngala, spokesman for MLM, did not comment on how far MLM had come in its reassessment of the allegations, what Prolius’ salary costs taxpayers every month or when a decision could be expected. Prolius declined to comment.
