Cape Town – The KwaDukuza Municipality in Kwa-Zulu-Natal has hit back at the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in the General Gizenga Mpanza Region following explosive allegations of corruption, nepotism, and unethical hiring practices.
The municipality dismissed the accusations as “baseless, unfounded and intimidatory,” insisting that all employment and recruitment processes were conducted in line with municipal policies and labour participation guidelines.
According to the Youth League, “for far too long, the municipality has hired individuals from outside the town, while qualified local youth remain unemployed and excluded.”
They further alleged that “posts are not advertised, interviews are skipped, and individuals are placed through personal connections, often family and friends of those in management.”
In one specific case, the ANCYL claimed that an individual in the Corporate Governance Business Unit had been on the municipal payroll “for more than five years without reporting for duty.”
They also alleged that an employee in the Project Management Unit “continued receiving payment after the original employee had returned to work.”
The Youth League accused the municipality of employing ghost workers, making irregular payments to temporary staff, and misusing the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), stating that “individuals close to municipal management had benefited repeatedly from the programme at the expense of deserving local youth.”
In response, KwaDukuza Municipality described the allegations as “unfounded” and “intimidatory”. The municipality stated it “has a clear recruitment policy encapsulated in its Human Resources Policy Manual”, and insisted that organised labour participates in every hiring process.
Regarding the “ghost employee” allegation, the municipality said the person in question “is known to the municipality and was recruited through proper processes”, challenging the Youth League to provide evidence.
Addressing the PMU payment claim, the municipality explained that the individual was temporarily appointed during another employee’s maternity leave and that the vacancy remains “pending the outcome of a grievance process”.
On the EPWP claim, the municipality maintained that “there is no way that an employee can be appointed on the EPWP programme and be paid on a Task Grade 8”, implying that the Youth League’s example could not occur under the programme’s rules.
The municipality also rejected claims that the organogram used is invalid, stating that the role of the Department of Co‑operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) is advisory, not supervisory, and that only posts in a 2017 organogram still in effect are being filled.
KwaDukuza officials said the ANCYL’s statement “assumes that these accusations are the only truth and there is no possibility they can be proven otherwise”, and described it as an attempt “to intimidate the municipality and/or its officials so that the voice of the municipality cannot be heard”.
The municipality invited anyone with credible evidence of wrongdoing to submit it to the municipal manager.
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Compiled by Lisabeal Nqamqhele
