Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool’s bid to change the racial balance of his department could be scuppered if a dispute over 10 posts is not resolved by next Friday.
By Thursday no date had been set for arbitration between the provincial administration and trade unions, the Public Servants Association (PSA) and Hospersa. Last week the two organisations won a temporary interdict in the Labour Court, but subsequent conciliation talks ended in a deadlock. If there is no resolution through arbitration, the matter will return to the Labour Court next Friday for possible finalisation of the interdict. That would mean going back to the drawing board.
Employment equity has been the Achilles heel of the Western Cape government. A Department of Public Service and Administration task team found it would meet its equity targets only in 2011 unless there were major interventions.
The aim of restructuring Rasool’s department is to expand the number of senior managers to 52, up from 38, to drive the provincial growth and development strategy, iKapa Elihlumayo (Growing, Sharing Cape).
As job functions and skills requirements had changed under the restructuring proposals, the present senior managers would have to re-apply for their posts.
At the core of the dispute are 10 posts where the unions argue job descriptions have not changed sufficiently to warrant the incumbent having to reapply. Said Koos Kruger, the PSA’s Western Cape manager: ‘It’s a question of fairness: you’ve performed so well you got a performance bonus, but three months later you’re told to reapply.â€
Kruger insisted the PSA was not against racial transformation. There had been 18 vacancies in the department for more than a year, which could have been filled to help meet employment equity targets.
Of the 38 senior managers, 17 are white, 18 coloured, two black and one Indian. This represents a marginal improvement since March last year, when there was one black and 14 coloured senior managers, according to the department’s annual report.