Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Stone Makhema and Afrikaans soundbite by Cllr Louis van Heerden.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Fezile Dabi welcomes the district council’s decision to withdraw all unauthorised job advertisements, a step the DA has consistently called for after raising concerns that the municipal manager acted against council resolutions by advertising vacancies despite an agreed moratorium.
During a special council sitting on 13 February 2026, council interrogated the municipal manager’s reasons for his decision despite a council resolution advising against it.
Unauthorised advertisements for positions create suspicions of nepotism, which further promote inequality, unfair recruitment processes, and bias. It is also a contributor to cadre deployment. Residents should be given equal opportunities.
At that meeting, the district council unanimously decided to withdraw all advertised posts. These acts by the municipal manager have cost the municipality an amount in excess of R200 000, which could have been used for service delivery for residents within the district.
Apart from a moratorium on positions, this council also resolved last year to implement a job evaluation process to curb the excessive salary bill, which is outside the recommended range under municipal finance guidelines. This excessive salary bill was inherited from the previous administration, and interventions have been put in place to reduce it.
The Municipal Finance Management Act, read together with the local government disciplinary regulations for senior management of 2010, and the municipal regulations on financial misconduct procedures and criminal proceedings of 2014, clearly prescribe a procedure to be followed in the event of possible misconduct by the municipal manager. This is because the municipal manager’s actions are seen as contrary to council resolutions he is expected to implement.
Council has therefore resolved that an independent investigator must be appointed within 7 days to investigate this possible misconduct. The independent investigator will report back to the council within 30 days of his findings and recommendations.
The DA always plays an oversight role in ensuring equal opportunities and access to jobs are in place, but those opportunities must be within the law’s prescripts.
We will continue to monitor this process as it unfolds. We remain committed to the rule of law and will ensure that institutions of governance are not a playground for self-serving officials. No individual is a law unto themselves.