Note to Editors: Please find an English soundbite by Kingsol Chabalala MPL here.
The Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) has opted to abuse the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI Act) to conceal the identity of unqualified ANC cadres employed at the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM), despite their role in collapsing the municipality and causing service delivery to fail.
In a written reply to questions posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA), the MEC for COGTA, Jacob Mamabolo, outlines that the Emfuleni Local Municipality hired 151 persons between 2021 and July 2024. MEC Mamabolo cites the POPI Act as the rationale for non-disclosure of the names of the employees, asserting that “an employee’s confidential information is governed by the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013”.
See the reply here.
Although the DA acknowledges the POPI Act, we question the MEC’s convenient use of the Act to hide the names of those employed by the municipality during this period. The municipality’s failure to hire competent and qualified individuals for key positions is the reason for this non-disclosure.
This municipality’s failure to depoliticise and professionalise its workplace has not been without consequences. The following are the results:
• Eskom recently attached Emfuleni’s bank accounts to recover an R8 billion in debt, underscoring the municipality’s debt crisis.
• The municipality’s infrastructure has collapsed, as evidenced by the raw sewage flowing into the Vaal River.
• Emfuleni has also struggled to make payments to Rand Water, aggravating the water crisis in the region.
• The roads are riddled with potholes, with little prospect of ever being fixed.
These issues affecting the residents of Emfuleni partly stem from the same individuals whom MEC Mamabolo is trying to protect through the POPI Act. Instead of serving residents, some of these individuals have looted public funds, leaving little to nothing for service delivery. For this reason, concealing their identity serves no purpose because their deeds are public knowledge.
The DA demands that the Department of COGTA stop misusing the POPI Act to protect criminals who have stolen from the residents of Emfuleni. It is crucial that the municipalities in Gauteng hire competent and qualified officials, leaving no room for subpar performance or failed service delivery.
The DA will refer this matter to the Public Protector to compel the MEC of COGTA to provide the records of the advertised posts and the qualifications of the people employed in the period under review. It is fishy why the MEC would want to withhold this information if there is nothing to hide.
The DA stands ready to eradicate cadre employment and corruption and punish those who steal public funds meant to serve our people.
We will keep pushing COGTA to enforce accountability in municipalities rather than hiding their failure to hire competent people to deliver services to Gauteng residents.