A report by the uMhlathuze Municipality (Richardsbaai / Empangeni) shows that people from minority groups are significantly under-represented in the Municipality's labour force.
The report was tabled in the Municipality's Portfolio Committee on Corporate Services.
The Municipality employs 2 095 personnel of which only 75 (3,63%) are white. There are currently 54 (2,58%) Indian and 13 (0,62%) coloured personnel employed.
According to 2011 figures, the racial composition of uMhlathuze is as follows:
Black: 87,7%
Coloured: 0,9%
Indian: 3,8%
White: 7,3%
The Municipality's Affirmative Action (AA) plan for the past five years made provision for rectifying the representation of various racial groups in the labour force.
The AA plan is currently in its fifth year and will terminate in June 2023. The previous ANC-controlled council compiled this plan.
The Municipality itself has already admitted that black personnel are over-represented, and that the targets for appointing more personnel from minority groups were not reached.
An undertaking to rectify the matter during the last year of the AA plan (July 2022 – June 2023) was given once again, but now the parameters have been changed.
The latest quarterly report by Corporate Services, which was issued in September this year, states that the matter of under-representation will be addressed during the next five years' AA plan.
The FF Plus strongly objected to this, and demanded that steps must immediately be taken to ensure equal representation, as the Municipality had undertaken to do.
The party also sent a letter to the municipal manager, Mr Nkosenye Zulu, to voice its objection to the decision.
The FF Plus believes that appointments ought to be made based on merit, regardless of skin colour, but that minority groups must also not be discriminated against based on their skin colour.
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