Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, has urged civil servants belonging to the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) to help defend the gains of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR).
He said the NDR was gained through hard work between the ANC and its alliance partners, which was won under difficult circumstances to bring an end to apartheid over three decades ago.
She also urged workers to remain firm against corruption and maladministration, which has rocked most of the country’s municipalities in recent times.
Just this week, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke highlighted this alarming reality of irregular expenditure within the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), which revealed that the municipality was leading the nation in this regard, with contracts exceeding R1 billion awarded to contractors with connections to officials.
Nkomo-Ralehoko was speaking during her address to the Gauteng delegates who will be electing new leaders to represent the union in the province.
The congress, which kicked off on Wednesday and wraps up on Friday under the theme: ‘Towards 40 years of defending and advancing the interests of municipal workers’ at the Birchwood Hotel, will announce its new provincial structures amid a series of challenges facing revenue collection and maladministration.
“Our enemy is not the workers but corruption and maladministration, theft, and unethical leadership. We are not going to function as the government if you are not assisting us. That is the personal responsibility we must take so that we can deliver services to our people. The collapse of service delivery in municipalities must be a thing of the past, comrades,” she stated.
On the issues, municipal workers have with the City of Joburg Mayor, Dada Morero, Nkomo-Ralehoko, promised to help mediate some of the challenges between the two parties.
The issues stem from SAMWU having accused Morero of protecting corruption-accused Helen Botes, the acting chief operating officer of the city, who served as the CEO of Johannesburg Property Company for over 15 years and was not charged for any of the allegations lodged against her.
“I am going to meet Dada Morero and try to initiate a meeting between us and him. It can’t be that the ANC doesn’t intervene in Johannesburg. It used to be the same in Ekurhuleni, and we addressed the issues there, and we will do the same here,” she said.
As workers who remain at the interface and forefront of service delivery in communities, cities, and local government level, the MEC urged municipal workers to continue to be the pillars of society.
“You, as municipal workers, are at the forefront of service delivery. You are the pillars that have kept the fires burning during apartheid. The same unity and commitment you have shown during that time should continue even today. We cannot then have members who do not understand the alliance and the relationship between the ANC and Cosatu,” she added.
