SASOLBURG – Fresh controversy is brewing at the Fezile Dabi District Municipality after the DA demanded a full-scale investigation into the advertisement of municipal vacancies, despite a council resolution placing a moratorium on all new posts.
The DA says the move flies directly in the face of a decision taken during the tabling of the 2025/2026 budget in June last year, when council agreed to freeze hiring in a bid to rein in a staggering 72% salary bill inherited from the previous administration.
DA caucus leader Stone Makhema said council had also resolved that a job evaluation process must be completed before any positions could be filled.
“This moratorium and job evaluation were specifically introduced to reduce an unsustainable salary bill,” Makhema said. “The sudden advertisement of posts is a clear undermining of council authority and must be urgently addressed.”
Makhema pointed to National Treasury guidelines contained in MFMA Circular No. 17, which state that a municipality’s salary costs should ideally fall between 25% and 40% of total operating expenditure.
“The actions we are seeing are also contrary to commitments made to the Parliamentary Oversight Committee and the Provincial Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts and Finance (PROPAC),” he added.
The issue escalated further at a council sitting on January 27, where councillors resolved that the Executive Mayor must demand answers from the Municipal Manager within seven days of his return on February 2.
A special council meeting will then be convened to consider the report and decide on the way forward.
“We will expose any attempt to turn this municipality into a jobs-for-pals institution. No individual is above the law, and those who act outside council decisions will face the full might of the council,” Makhema said.
Municipal spokesperson Tebello Lengoabala Serunye has since dismissed the claims, labelling the DA stance as misleading.
“The municipality wishes to place on record that the assertions contained in the statement are not factually correct and do not fully reflect the administrative and governance processes currently underway within the institution. The matter relating to the advertisement of posts is currently being addressed through internal administrative processes,” she said.
Serunye said a comprehensive report addressing all relevant aspects of the matter is in the process of being finalised.
“This report is due to be submitted to the Executive Mayor and Municipal Council, where it will be formally considered and deliberated upon at the next ensuing council meeting. Until council has considered the report, it would be inappropriate and premature to engage in speculative or piecemeal commentary in the public domain,” she said.
