281 public servants also serving as ward and PR councillors

There are 281 public servants serving as either proportional representative (PR) or ward councillors in various municipal councils.

This was the figure provided at the end of May, said Mimmy Gondwe, MP and DA shadow deputy minister for public service and administration, based on a written reply to a parliamentary question to the department.

About 30 of these are employed in national departments and the remaining 251 in provincial departments.

KwaZulu-Natal has the highest number of public servants serving as either PR or ward councillors, with 150. Of these, 86% are employed in the provincial department of basic education.

Gondwe said the Public Service Act provides public servants with leeway to serve as councillors, but only on a part-time basis.

“While public servants may undertake part-time council work as PR councillors, this is often not the case for the position of ward councillor, as schedule 5 of the Municipal Structures Act provides that a full-time councillor may not undertake any other paid work, except with the consent of a municipal council.

“This then begs the question: how many of the public servants serving as councillors sought and obtained approval from their municipal councils to continue working as public servants?”

Gondwe said the party would on Tuesday submit follow-up questions to the minister of co-operative governance Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.