Johannesburg - Some DA members in the City of Johannesburg have taken the municipality to the South African Local Government Bargaining Council over the non-payment of ex-gratia packages meant for employees who leave political office.
The Star has seen a letter some of the DA members’ attorneys sent to the municipality, indicating a labour dispute with the City of Johannesburg.
The DA members say a three-month ex-gratia payment was due to them after DA mayor Mpho Phalatse left office. But the new ANC-led Government of Local Unity disapproved the decision.
Traditionally, the city gave ex-gratia payments to professionals in political offices and other political staffers when the term of the political principle ended. One of the reasons it did so was to attract professionals to political office work and provide some sort of security.
“This dispute arose as a result of the employer’s refusal to make payments of the ex-gratia benefit due to the loss of employment as a result of the termination of a fixed-term contract of the applicant’s political staff, despite the employer's advice that some would be paid by the end of February 2023,” the attorneys said.
They said it was common cause that since 2016, the municipality had paid ex-gratia amounts to all political staff. They described the overturning of the decision as being unfair to workers.
“In the circumstances, a legitimate expectation has been created to the effect that the applicants are duly entitled to be paid the ex-gratia payment equivalent to six months’ salary,” the attorneys said.
DA caucus whip Leah Knott said she was aware of some workers being unhappy with the non-payment.
Knott said workers affiliated with the DA government seemed to be punished because of their affiliation.
“Finding a job is not very easy; how do they expect someone to find a job in a month without any income?”
Knott said not all the affected staff were DA members; some were professionals who were not politically involved.
“In my office, I had staff who were not even DA, but because they were so efficient and they knew what they were doing, they were part of the staff,” she said.
Before the ANC-led Government of Local Unity took over the metro from the DA, 130 workers were dismissed from their jobs after it was discovered that their contracts were illegally converted from fixed-term to permanent. They received six months’ pay and were then released.
The Star had contacted the City of Johannesburg for comment. The paper has been reliably told that the government was considering bringing back ex-gratia payments for political staff linked to the current government.
The Star