The broke Emfuleni local municipality in Gauteng has dished out more than R130, 000 to pay an employee who refused to take an annual leave since 2017.
Emfuleni is one of the worst performing municipalities in Gauteng and the country.
It has emerged that the Vanderbijylpark-based municipality wasted taxpayers’ money when it paid an official an amount of R132,374.09.
Joined municipality in 2017, cashed leave in 2021
The official, Sipho Mnguni, works in the office of the municipal manager as a governance specialist. He claimed R132,374.09 after he told his bosses that he wanted to cash in his leave days. He started working for Emfuleni in 2017.
DA Emfuleni North Constituency Head and MPL, Kingsol Chabalala said this was a violation of Leave Policy Administration.
This was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Jacob Mamabolo. He revealed this in a written reply to the questions tabled by Chabalala in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.
“According to MEC Mamabolo, Sipho Mnguni was employed in 2017. He held a managerial position at the Emfuleni municipality. His academic qualifications are unknown, as the MEC in the reply cites the POPI Act. He asserts that “an employee’s confidential information is governed by the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013”.
Chabalala also said Mamabolo explained that no other employees within Emfuleni had cashed their leave since 2021. This was when Mnguni did claim his leave days cash.
No other employee had application to cash leave approved since
Chabalala said Mnguni’s leave encashment contravened the Emfuleni municipality Leave Administration Policy. The policy was amended in 2022. And it stipulates that “an employee is entitled to retain a maximum of 48 days of accrued leave. Any leave in excess of this is forfeited at the end of the leave cycle. Unless it was accrued due to operational purposes”.
“The leave encashment raises suspicion. Especially because it occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic when everyone was expected to work from home. Which would eliminate the possibility of accruing leave due to operational services.
“The revelations raise concerns about the municipality’s expenditures. As only one employee received a large sum of money for accrued days. The DA has been reliably informed that some employees who applied for leave encashment were denied,” said Chabalala.
Mamabolo further said in his reply that Mnguni was employed on May 2017. He stated that the municipality does have a policy on leave encashment. Despite him in his earlier reply saying no other employees had cashed their leave encashment since 2021.
“The municipality does have a policy on leave encashment. And it is based on the main collective agreement as negotiated at the South African Local Government Bargaining Council between Salga and the other two labour unions (Imatu and Samwu). This came into effect on the 1st of July 2015,” said Mamabolo.
The DA demands that Mamabolo launch an urgent investigation into the handling of this pay-out.
DA demands answers, accountability
“We need to know why Mnguni’s wasteful pay-out was allowed. This given the financial struggles the municipality finds itself in. Residents do not have access to uninterrupted water supply. Roads are full of potholes, and Eskom has attached the municipality’s bank accounts. The money wasted could have been utilised to address some of these difficulties. And also help provide better services to Emfuleni residents who have been struggling for years now.
“The DA is dedicated to uncovering and eliminating wasteful spending. This in a time of scarcity and inadequate service delivery in the crumbing Emfuleni municipality,” said Chabalala.
