Johannesburg - Despite political promises to reinstate 130 workers that were dismissed by the multi-party coalition in the City of Johannesburg, lawyers have advised the municipality not to reinstate the workers.
The workers held hopes that they would get their jobs back when the ANC, under the government of local unity, came back into power. But legal advice from a law firm has advised the City against reinstating the workers.
The 130 were dismissed after it was discovered that their contracts had been converted from fixed-term contracts (FTC) to permanent contracts. Some of them were linked to the ANC in Johannesburg.
The Star has seen a copy of the legal opinion that was given to the municipality late last year. The DA administration, at the time, had sought a legal opinion to see if the 130 workers could be reinstated.
“In our opinion, there is no basis for the ‘reinstatement’ of the 130 employees on account of the cessation of their FTCs — a direct consequence of Council’s binding resolution,” the lawyers said.
The document further said that in the ordinary course, each of these employees would, if a position were advertised, have to reapply for employment.
“The COJ would have to follow a lawful recruitment process in accordance with its human resources and recruitment policies,” it said. “In our view, it is doubtful that a successful argument can be raised that the FTC employee’s accrued rights to permanent employment on account of the Mayoral Committee’s purported decision, which has since been revoked.”
According to the legal opinion, on March 1, 2021, the COJ and its then-Head of Human Capital sent a letter to the 130 employees, advising them that their FTCs had been effectively converted to permanent contracts of employment.
“On February 25, 2022, the Council adopted a resolution to rescind the decision of the Mayoral Committee to convert the FTCs to permanent in terms of the provisions of Sections 59(3) and 61 of the Local Government,” the document said.
The document further questioned the timing of the conversion of the contracts from fixed-term to permanent. Those employed occupied various levels of work placements.
“The COJ employed certain 130 employees in the positions of drivers, photographers, personal assistants, office managers, researchers, monitoring and evaluation specialists, and assistant directors on FTCs.”
The document said: “Fundamentally, the fact is that Council passed a resolution to revoke the conversion. That resolution has not been impugned. Thus, the question of the court’s remedial discretion does not arise.“
The Star understands that the DA administration sought a legal opinion on the matter relating to the reinstatement of the 130. It is understood that some of those who were dismissed were linked to the DA but had also had their contracts illegally converted.
The 130 had taken the matter of their reinstatement to court. But some of them had been convinced that the ANC administration would give them their jobs back. The group had planned a protest outside the Metro Centre to display their displeasure over the manner that their matter was being handled by the current administration.
The Star had sent questions to the City of Johannesburg on the matter, but there had been no response.
The Star