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Cadre deployment in Dawid Kruiper municipality has been dealt a harsh blow after the ConCourt this week refused municipal officials leave to appeal a Labour Court order declaring seven appointments and promotions, dating back to 2017, unlawful.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the court order and demands that Dawid Kruiper must now stop dithering and reverse the irregular appointments immediately.

Last year, in Municipal & Allied Trade Union and others vs The David Kruiper Local Municipality and others, the Labour Court ordered that those seven appointments and promotions into positions on Dawid Kruiper’s organisational structure, which had taken effect from 1 May 2017, were unlawful. The court also ordered that the respective appointments and promotions must be set aside and that Dawid Kruiper municipality must appoint people into these positions, in strict accordance with employment procedure.

The ANC-governed municipality then sought a legal opinion on the feasibility of launching an appeal, despite being advised against it. The Labour Appeal Court, however, refused the appeal in February this year whereafter the applicants approached the ConCourt.

Dawid Kruiper has a long history of cadre deployment, which has seen the ANC flouting regulations to appoint who it wants, with no regard for due process. The ConCourt order cements the fact that cadre deployment is irregular and destructive. It is now time that the municipality accepts that the debilitating practice of cadre deployment will not be tolerated.

The DA will table an urgent motion to demand that the municipality places the irregularly promoted and appointed staff back into their former positions. We will also recommend that all involved employees, in addition to the officials and former Municipal Manager, who were responsible for making the irregular appointments be held accountable for all costs incurred as a result of the irregular appointments, over the years.

Issued by Henk Opperman, Cllr - Dawid Kruiper Municipality