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Call for corruption probe 23 years after 280 Midrand workers axed

Cape Town - It is essential that an investigation be launched into “the probable misappropriation” of pension fund money owing to the 280 Midrand municipality workers who were sacked in controversial circumstances 23 years ago.

This is one of the recommendations in a memorandum that will be delivered to Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba on Monday.

The memorandum, drafted by Christo Marais, acting group executive director of the council’s corporate and shared services division, is diplomatically phrased, but still scathing about the conduct of the former Midrand council.

He notes that the “bona fide conduct” of several officials “as well as senior officials and politicians at that time is questionable and a high likelihood of severe corruption cannot be excluded”.

However, it was not within the brief of Marais to make any findings on the rights or wrongs of the dismissals or corruption allegations. The inquiry by his department could only “at best” verify the facts leading to the sacking of the workers.

The workers have maintained throughout that the prime reason for their dismissal was that they demanded action against corrupt practices within the council at the time.

Marais’ memorandum agrees that what lay at the root of their dismissal was their demand that the then human resources manager at Midrand be disciplined for corruption; that such matters should be decided by “statutory dispute resolution agencies”.  

However, he notes that the workers did approach the various statutory bodies “but the process was frustrated by role players with vested interests”.

Marais says there was “no plausible reason” for the council not suspending the human resources manager “Mr (Kamani Ernest) Letjane”. The reasons advanced by the council at the time “were flimsy to say the least”.

It will now be up to Mashaba to decide what should be done. The workers welcomed the memorandum this weekend and expressed confidence that, 23 years down the line, “we will have justice”.

One of the memorandum’s recommendations is that the former Midrand workers be “shortlisted” for any job vacancies with the Johannesburg council.

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