MBOMBELA – The local head of traffic has been reinstated. The newspaper has established that Mr Eddie Prolius returned to work last week.
He was first put on special leave in April 2013 and has been drawing a salary despite not having officially worked since.
He was first put on special leave following allegations of racism against him. Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM) had said the former municipal manager Mr Xolani Mzobe, who was tasked with investigating the allegations, never submitted a report on the matter.
Last week when he was allowed to return to work, Prollius returned to a much-diminished staff. In total 14 traffic officers were suspended on November 7 along with 21 firefighters following what the municipality called illegal strike action.
These incidents refer to two protests staged by some community safety employees in October over, among other issues, Prollius’s position. Some of them had insisted that he be transferred to another unit.
In the meantime Mbombela had confirmed that Mr Rasheed Matola, general manager community services, was suspended.
However, Mr Joseph Ngala, spokesman for MLM, had not commented on how many traffic officers and firefighters the municipality had at its disposal following the suspensions last month. He would also give no indication of which other role players were involved in filling the gaps left by the suspension, or on what terms.
