Axed metro police chief Robert McBride claimed on Thursday that ”political forces” are behind his dismissal from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM).
McBride brought an application before the CCMA in Johannesburg to prove that he was dismissed unfairly. McBride’s advocate, Morne Crouse, said they will argue that there was ”no substantive reason for [McBrides’s] dismissal” and ”no procedures were followed” in explaining his release from his position. McBride also claims that the municipality reneged on an alleged agreement to renew his contract pending the outcome of his ongoing criminal trial.
McBride was dismissed from his job as chief of police at the EMM in September 2008 after being placed on special leave. He was charged with drunken driving and defeating the ends of justice after crashing his car in December 2006.
”I received no written notification informing me that I was on special leave,” said McBride. He said that he was given long leave to prepare for his criminal trial, but was not allowed to come back to work once his preparations were complete.
Elsewhere in his testimony, McBride frequently alluded to tensions between the line function managers and political leadership at the EMM, which he says influenced his release. ”There appeared some measure of political interference — It will be proven that there was political tension,” he said.
Advocate Kennedy Tsatsawane, representing the EMM, said that the respondents will prove that there was no agreement that McBride’s contract would be renewed pending the outcome of his criminal trial.