According to the Democratic Alliance caucus chairperson, Hans-Jurie Moolman, the party is considering laying criminal charges following evidence that resolutions of council have been forged and presented in support of recent court cases pertaining to the appointment of the municipal council.
This comes after the municipal manager presented a council resolution, purporting to appoint her and other senior managers permanently without following the legally prescribed processes for the appointment of municipal managers and senior managers of the municipality.
The MEC of Local Government and Human Settlements stated in a letter sent to the municipality in July 2017 that the MM’s contract should come to an end on 9 August 2017 and that her post should be re-advertised.
Blaai-Mokgethi’s first application in the Mmabatho High Court was dismissed with costs. Since then, she has successfully applied for the interdict in the North Gauteng High Court.
‘Not once were the two cases tabled before council in order to give input or a mandate to lawyers to represent the interests of council as a collective,’ Moolman said.
In her application, the MM argued that she was appointed on a fixed term contract for a period of five years in 2013. That would see her contract ending on 30 June 2018. She also attached a council resolution from 6 December 2016 in which she claimed that, in essence, a new contract had been concluded between her and council that would keep her in her post until December 2020.
In the letter of July 2017, the MEC refers to Section 57(6)(a) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act No 32 of 2000. ‘The employment contract of an MM must be for a fixed term of employment up to a maximum of five years, not exceeding a period ending one year after the election of the next council of the municipality.
‘For the purpose of this correspondence, the date of election of the next council is legally deemed to be the date on which the results of the 2016 municipal general elections were published in a government gazette, which is 10 August 2016. Therefore, a year later, that date is 9 August 2017 beyond which no MM’s employment contract from the previous electoral cycle shall be valid,’ reads the letter.
The Herald has received copies of the MM’s appointment letter, signed by the executive mayor, which states that the contract is for a fixed period not exceeding two years after the next municipal elections.
According to Moolman, this is in clear contravention of the systems act, effectively making the employment contract null and void as it had not been concluded in accordance with the act or the council resolution that confirmed that her appointment should be concluded in accordance with the law. He says the normal procedures were followed to appoint the MM and other managers in 2013.
‘After the amalgamation of the Tlokwe and Ventersdorp local municipalities, various managers including the MM were introduced to council. We asked who had appointed them as no procedures had been followed. Council is the only body that has the authority to appoint an MM,’ said Moolman.
‘When we heard that the MEC had appointed these managers, the municipality sought a legal opinion on the matter. In short, the MEC had no authority to appoint them but, after lengthy discussions, it was decided to appoint them on an acting basis until proper procedures could be followed.
‘Based on this resolution of 6 December 2016, the MM argued that a “new” contract had been concluded between her and the council. The resolution stated that council had resolved to permanently appoint her and several other managers according to the terms and conditions as stipulated in their contracts. This resolution was amended in February 2017, when the word “permanent” was removed.’
Moolman initially struggled to get hold of the audio recording of the council meeting as he was told to fill in a PAIA request for this information.
According to him, it confirms that the MM and the other managers had never been appointed permanently but, in fact, on an acting basis.
The Herald has listened to a copy of this recording where council resolved that the appointments should be made on acting basis.
According to him, an acting appointment can only be made for a maximum period of three months. He added that this extra evidence was never submitted to the court when the application for the interdict was made.
According to William Maphosa, the municipal spokesperson, the issue of the MM’s contract is a matter that council is currently attending to. ‘Council has requested, and is awaiting, legal input in this respect,’ he said.