Are Municipalities employing dwarfs as alluded to by Gwede Mantashe?

Masilonyane Local Municipality which houses the incomplete Winnie Madikizela Museum was dealt a huge blow by the labor court in declaring the suspension of Municipal Manager, Pule Tshekedi, unlawful.
 
According to the minutes of the municipal council meeting held on the 22nd of March 2022, Tsekedi was placed on precautionary suspension on the 14th of July 2021 and served with a notice of disciplinary hearing on the 14th of October 2021.
 
The court interdicted and restrained the Municipality pending compliance with:
 
a) Regulation 5 and 6 of the disciplinary regulations
And
b) Regulations 3(2); 4(1); 5(1); 5(4); 6(1); 6(3); 6(4); 6(8) of the Financial Miscount regulations.
 
In simple terms, the municipality can still suspend him on the condition they comply with the above-mentioned regulations.
 
It is of importance to note that Tshekedi only returned to work 4 months later after the court had ruled in his favor.
 
Tshekedi allegedly faced 10 charges 8 of which were financially related and his suspension followed legal advice from municipal services.
 
The advice came after the JGL Forensic dated September 2021 made adverse findings against Tshekedi but did not recommend any disciplinary hearing which is contrary to the regulations.
 
The Financial Misconduct provides that it is the investigator who must recommend disciplinary inquiry.
 
What is even shocking is the council in march sought legal advice from Mxolisi Dukwana, MEC for COGTA, and the following proposals were put to him;
 
– Pule Tshekedi be paid out for the remainder of his employment, and his services are terminate

– Pule Tshekedi remains the Municipal Manager of the Masilonyana Local Municipality as he is only left with 10 months in his contract.
 
In his response Dukwana in a letter dated 22 April 2022 made the following recommendations:
 
– The council considers complying with the labor court judgment and suspends the appeal processes it was intending to engage on,

– That the alleged current suspension of the MM be rescinded in line with council standing rules and Order as it is contemplations, unlawful, and contrary to the judgment,That the municipal council establishes the Financial Misconduct Board starts the processes from the beginning and/or

– Consider other amicable solutions to resolve the matter.
 
The response to the proposal is very vague and does not give direct answers to the proposal.
 
The council is not interested in following the right processes and charging Tshekedi despite spending millions on legal costs not forgeting JGL Forensics.
 
A source with intimate knowledge said this is exactly what African National Congress (ANC) national chairperson Gwede Mantashe said while addressing delegates at the ANC Conference in East London.
 
“What is happening here is exactly what the national chairperson said. Gwede said the ANC may deploy dwarfs in municipalities and these dwarfs employ other dwarfs hence all these.”
 
With regards to cost, the source said.
 
“The municipality has already spent over R2.8 million on legal fees and paid JGL Forensic for a report that could not even recommend a disciplinary inquiry.”
 
Pule Tshekedi, Municipal Manager of Masilonyana Local Municipality did not respond to our questions while Sello Dithebe, spokesperson for COGTA MEC referred this publication to the municipality.
 

This is a developing story.

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