Workers from the Makhado Municipality have been given special leave to attend the inter-municipal games at the Sol Plaatje Municipality. About 60 of them will leave their posts unattended between 22 and 26 September this year to participate in, amongst others, darts, netball, soccer and volleyball.

As far as could be determined, these workers will not represent the municipality in any official capacity as a team. No selection criteria could be determined, which leaves the question of how these “representatives” were selected. In the past, only staff members who participated at provincial or national level were given support by the municipality.

Another matter which is not clear is whether these workers will be remunerated during their “special leave” period. It is also not clear whether they will receive any financial assistance from the municipality during the course of their participation, either in terms of a participation fee or in terms of subsistence and travelling allowances. They will apparently rely on “donations”, but no clarity exists about the form of these donations or where they will come from. One observer expressed the hope that taxpayers will not have to foot this bill.

By all accounts, Council’s executive committee (Exco) recommended that the participants use the regular leave available to all employees of the municipality to attend the games. This recommendation was ignored, which raises the fear that the decision will have a negative effect on morale amongst workers employed by the municipality. The potential implications if the rest of the roughly 900 remaining employees start insisting on receiving the same treatment do not bear contemplation.

Another very definite problem that the municipality will need to address is how it is going to cope with the simultaneous absence of 60 employees on the dates mentioned and how service delivery will be affected during that period.