The eThekwini Municipality says it has launched an internal investigation into an incident in which a municipal staffer is seen passed out, allegedly from consuming alcohol, in a City branded vehicle.
A video of the incident went viral on social media. Political parties have called for tough action and for transparency in how the municipality deals with the matter.
Chairperson of ActionSA in KwaZulu-Natal, Zwakele Mncwango, said these types of incidents were happening on a daily basis in eThekwini.
“It's only when we see videos on social media that things like this go viral. The problem starts with leadership as there are no tough actions.
“Employees believe they can do whatever they want and not face consequences. We need leadership that will instil education on how employees should be conducting themselves when representing eThekwini Municipality.”
Mncwango added that he has reported incidents similar to this to the City.
“There are a number of vehicles lying in the depot that have been damaged by employees while driving. I have been calling for reports of what action has been taken against employees who have damaged municipal resources and I'm still waiting for responses. At the end of the day this is why we find that service delivery is failing in eThekwini.”
DA eThekwini caucus leader, Thabani Mthethwa, said that the party was shocked by the incident but not surprised.
“We are calling for swift action to be taken against the employee as this behaviour is unacceptable. We are also calling for the head of department to answer and be held accountable for the behaviour of municipal employees.”
Mthethwa added that the DA wants any action taken against employees involved in these incidents to be made public.
“Every time we find an eThekwini employee who is involved in wrongdoing we hear that the municipality has launched an investigation but we hear nothing about what action has been taken.
“We need transparency so they can set a precedent so that employees will know what consequences they will face.”
IFP chairperson in the district, Mdu Nkosi, said that the City needs to get to the root cause of the problem.
“If employers are not laying down the law, employees will not have the fear that they will be held accountable for wrongdoing. We want transparency to know what action is taken against the employee. We call for the employee to be expelled from his duties.”
Nkosi added that employees involved in incidents such as these should not be protected in any way.
“I think the city manager must hold the heads and employees accountable for wrongdoing. We can’t expect unions and employers to protect employees; they must face the full consequences of their actions.They must fear the repercussions.”
Former eThekwini city manager Mike Sutcliffe said that he reported the incident to the city manager as soon as he heard about it.
“I am pleased that the city manager is taking appropriate action against the alleged employee. I want to state that there are about 28 000 eThekwini Municipality employees and one person doing wrong does not mean that is an entire group of employees who are abusing state resources, as there are good people working for the City.”
The municipality said it was shocked and appalled by the incident shown in the viral video.
“City manager Musa Mbhele has made it clear that service delivery is an apex priority and that the abuse of municipal resources under any circumstances, and in any way, shape or form, will not be accepted.”
It added that the municipal vehicle seen in the viral video was safely parked in the Parks depot.
“As a matter of principle, the municipality does not discuss internal investigations and does not discuss employer-employee related matters with a third party.”
The Mercury