Makana will pay around R80 000 to send a fired employee on a course later this year.
Accused of unfair labour practice, the municipality will now foot the bill for axed chief financial officer Jackson Ngcelwane to attend a management course – almost three months after their deadline to do so.
Makana will pay around R80 000 to send a fired employee on a course later this year.
Accused of unfair labour practice, the municipality will now foot the bill for axed chief financial officer Jackson Ngcelwane to attend a management course – almost three months after their deadline to do so.
Ngcelwane was suspended from his post in May 2011, following various allegations of mismanagement – but an arbitration order from the South African Local Government Association Bargaining Council (Salga) calls the practices of his former employer into question.
According to evidence presented in Salga's arbitration award, dated 18 October 2012, Ngcelwane was obliged by law to attend a particular financial competency course. The municipality was obliged by law to send him.
In 2010, Makana paid for Ngcelwane, and fellow directors Riana Meiring and Thabiso Klaas to attend the course at the University of the Witwatersrand at a cost of R49 500 each.
In September/October 2010 Ngcelwane was told not to go on the course because the AG was conducting an audit. In March 2011 he was again told not to go because his department was performing poorly. In May 2011, Ngcelwane was suspended.
The October award by the bargaining council declares that Makana's failure to allow Ngcelwane to attend the course constitutes an unfair labour practice.
"The failure of the respondent, Makana Municipality to allow and facilitate the attendance of the applicant M J Ngcelwane to the CPMD course… constitutes an unfair labour practice relating to training," said John Robertson, one of the bargaining council's panellists.
The award document says Makana must now arrange for Ngcelwane to attend the course, even though he's no longer an employee.
Based on several precedents, the arbitration award states, this is not unusual.
The bargaining council instructs the municipality to pay all the costs for the Certificate Programme in Management Development course Ngcelwane was supposed to have attended while he was employed by the municipality.
The course was offered at the Wits Business School in Johannesburg. The municipality was ordered to make arrangements for Ngcelwane to attend parts one and two of the course, including travel to and from Johannesburg, and accommodation.
In the document, which clarifies what is expected from Makana municipality, Robertson said Makana should complete the order within 30 days of date of the award. This would have been on 18 October last year.
The municipality has not yet implemented the award – partly because of the complicating fact that Wits no longer offers the course in that format.
The award document records that Ngcelwane asked acting municipal manager, Thembinkosi Myalato, if Makana could pay for him to attend an equivalent course at a Port Elizabeth institution.
Speaking to Grocott's Mail last year, Ngcelwane said he'd had no response from the municipality following the issuing of the award.
"The award was forwarded to them, so they are aware… but there was no response till today. They had time to object, but there was no objection to the decision from their side… I can't answer for them," said Ngcelwane.
Acting municipal manager Thembinkosi Myalato confirmed on Friday that they were aware of the arbitration award. He said they had tried last year to enrol Ngcelwane at the Wits business school, but there were no dates available.
"Next week [this week]we are going to try again to get dates for him to attend the course. Otherwise we are implementing the award," Myalato said.
The cost of tuition for the first phase of the course is R49 500 and the second phase R 27 500 per delegate. Ngcelwane was fired by Makana council last June, a few hours before his five-year contract with the municipality was due to end.
