Hi Faith! Bye Faith?

By the time suspended Makhado municipal manager Ms Faith Muthambi walked back into office last Thursday, plans were already on the table to have her re-suspended.

Muthambi resumed her duties as municipal manager on September 18, following a ruling by the Labour Court three days prior that her suspension was unlawful.

Since Council’s initial plans to have her suspended surfaced on April 24 this year, it has literally become a case of “Hi Faith! Bye Faith!” with Muthambi returning to work, only to be asked to go home again.

On April 24, Council’s Executive Committee recommended that Muthambi be suspended. Their decision was, however, not implemented after a proposal by the Chief Whip of the ANC in Council, Cllr Rufus Selepe, that the entire recommendation of the Executive Committee be revoked until a full investigation was completed.

Shortly afterwards, Muthambi was put on 24 days special leave to allow Council to conduct an investigation into the allegations. When she returned to work after the 24 days, members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) immediately embarked on an illegal strike, downing tools and bringing service delivery to a halt out of protest against Muthambi’s return. At the best of times the relationship between Muthambi and SAMWU has been shaky, a relationship that further worsened after Muthambi first suspended and later fired a former local chairman of SAMWU, Mr James Sikhwari. Following the strike and adding further insult to injury, Council soon afterwards decided to carry out their mandate to suspend Muthambi with full pay as from June 27.

From the onset, Muthambi contested the legality of her suspension with regard to the procedure followed. On September 15, the Labour Court ruled in her favour. This apparently caused somewhat of a dilemma for Council as promises were allegedly made to SAMWU on a political level that Muthambi would not return to work.

As was the case earlier this year, SAMWU again embarked on an illegal strike on Friday after Muthambi’s return the previous day. On Monday, a court interdict was obtained to force the SAMWU members to return to work, but to no avail. According to information, they were still striking by Tuesday afternoon without any apparent fear of reprisal. Many view the actions by SAMWU and the municipality’s inability to act against them as proof of political interference in the administrative processes of Council, something strictly prohibited by the Municipal Systems Act.

Adding to the view that Muthambi is the victim of a politically motivated power struggle, Council was asked to convene on Monday evening to discuss the Labour Court ruling and Muthambi’s subsequent return to work. Prior to the meeting, rumour had it that Muthambi would be re-suspended, but this did not happen. Instead, Council resolved to abide by the decision of the Labour Court, although they will continue with their investigation, leaving Muthambi “safe” for now.

To date, Muthambi has not been charged and until her return to work last week, she had been sitting at home with full pay for the past five months.

Local DA councillor Brian du Plooy was especially critical about the cost aspect of the whole issue as rate payers again have to foot the bill. Apart from the legal expenses already incurred, said Du Plooy, the court also ruled that the municipality should reimburse Muthambi for her legal costs.

News - Date: 26 September 2008

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

Email: [email protected]