Cadre deployment red-carded

Cadre deployment in municipalities has been dealt a severe blow.

According to proposals tabled in parliament by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Lechesa Tsenoli yesterday, senior positions in municipalities would be open only to candidates with the necessary "skills, expertise, competencies and qualifications" .

If adopted, Tsenoli's proposal s would make it mandatory that municipal managers have a degree in public administration, social sciences, law, political science, or matric plus six years of tertiary study.

They must also have between five and eight years of work experience, with "good knowledge and interpretation of key and related policy and administration".

Senior managers found guilty of misconduct, specifically corruption and fraud, or of gross misconduct involving elements of dishonesty or gross negligence, would be banned from municipal employment for 10 years.

The DA welcomed the proposals, saying it had pushed for over two years for their adoption.

"Now that the regulations have been tabled, the minister must ensure that they become effective without further delay," John Steenhuisen, a DA MP and the party's spokesman on local government, said.

The general secretary of the SA Municipal Workers' Union, Walter Theledi, said the union did not know of the proposals .

"We had discussions with the former minister [Richard Baloyi] and, according to us, those discussions have not been concluded," said Theledi.

He said the section of the Municipal Systems Act that purported to give Tsenoli the right to overrule agreements workers had with their employer (the SA Local Government Association) was unconstitutional and the subject of a legal challenge.

"We say that those issues have not yet been concluded. We don't want any bargaining rights to be included in the act," said Theledi.

If the union's objections were not resolved, it would consider ordering its members to strike, he said.

Tsenoli said had been under the impression that the union had agreed to the proposals.

He said parliament would invite public comment on them before considering their adoption.

"There's no way we could close an avenue for discussion without the Municipal Workers' Union or the Local Government Association," said Tsenoli.