Eastern Cape civil servants are fighting against a=20 decision to axe about 7 000 government jobs, reports=20 Steuart Wright
A SHOWDOWN is looming between the Eastern Cape=20 government, which is preparing to cut its bloated and=20 inefficient bureaucracy, and the civil servants=20 fighting to retain their posts.
The province’s 155 613 civil servants were caught off=20 guard by Finance MEC Shepherd Mayatula’s announcement=20 this week that they could be retrenched from January in=20 what is seen in some quarters as a move to purge the=20 civil service of troublesome employees and in others as=20 a move to provide jobs for pals.
The South African Public Servants’ Association (Sapsa)=20 is to hold a meeting this weekend to map out its=20 counterattack to provincial Director General Thozamile=20 Botha’s announcement that almost 7 000 stand to lose=20 their jobs.
“They are breaking their election promises and the=20 promise we got that our jobs are guaranteed by the=20 Constitution after we marched to Premier Raymond Mhlaba=20 in June,” says Sapsa general secretary Sonwabo Joyi.
However, Mayatula’s announcement is seen as long=20 overdue as much of the government’s strife has been at=20 the hands of the remnants of the four bureaucracies it=20
Botha says the decision to retrench 6 936 people is=20 based on a “post-by-post analysis” of the staffing=20 needs of the province’s 11 departments, which must=20 replace the chaotic bureaucratic remains of the former=20 Transkei, Ciskei, Cape Provincial Administration and=20 the old central government.
He says all civil servants from deputy director down=20 will have to reapply for their posts and the surplus=20 will be retrenched. Joyi is afraid the African National=20 Congress-dominated government’s retrenchment scheme=20 will be prejudiced against those who served unpopular=20 homeland governments.
Although Botha is adamant the retrenchments will be=20 based on merit, Joy’s fears appear to be justified:=20 last year, the provincial government embarked on a=20 secret scheme to rehire almost 3 000 ANC-aligned=20 bureaucrats lawfully sacked by Brigadier Oupa Gqozo=20 after a wage strike in 1990.
With that track record and the large civil service even=20 after retrenchments, some observers have questioned the=20 government’s commitment to national guidelines to=20 create a “lean, effective and efficient” bureaucracy.
Botha insists the reduced bureaucracy of almost 150 000=20 posts is based on the “delivery needs” of the province=20 with an estimated population of more than six million=20 people. — Ecna