The Emfuleni Local Municipality has been paying a senior engineering technician, Silence Munwai, for four years while he has been sitting at home doing nothing.
This is because the Emfuleni Manager for Parks and Cemeteries, Sithembile Ngobeni, filed for a protection order against Munwai.
Since 2019, Munwai has been sitting at home while being paid an annual salary of R597 022,00.
Ngobeni filed a protection order against Munwai after he allegedly threatened to shoot and kill him because he was constantly absent from work.
This information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mzi Khumalo, in a written reply to the DA’s questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
This unresolved dispute is a massive cost to taxpayers that must not be allowed to continue. This dispute between the two employees is costing Emfuleni residents, who continue to suffer a collapse in service delivery.
The fact that this dispute has lasted for years indicates that the Emfuleni Human Resources Department has failed to resolve it.
The DA demands that MEC Khumalo urgently intervene and resolve this dispute to curb any further loss of income by Emfuleni.
In addition, the DA proposes that the Gauteng Provincial Government put measures in place to ensure disputes between managers and subordinates are resolved promptly.