GQEBERHA- The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape has intensified its campaign against what it calls unfair race quotas in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, staging a protest at the Gail Road municipal depot on Monday while submitting motions and questions to council over employment practices.
The protest led by DA Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal, focused on the municipality’s employment equity policies and allegations surrounding the appointment of 111 general workers in the Public Health Directorate in September last year.
The DA claims the appointments may have been irregular and possibly influenced by political interference.
DA councillor and corporate services spokesperson Annette Lovemore has submitted detailed questions to the municipality seeking clarity on the recruitment process.
Speaking at the protest, Odendaal said the party was opposed to what it described as race-based employment quotas that disadvantaged residents seeking work opportunities in the metro.
“The current system places race and gender targets above merit-based appointments,” he said.
The party also tabled two motions before council aimed at changing the municipality’s employment equity approach.Furthermore the first motion calls for the scrapping of employment practices that prioritise race and gender targets over merit.
The second challenges the requirement that municipalities align workforce demographics with provincial racial demographics instead of local municipal demographics.
According to Statistics South Africa’s 2022 Census data, Nelson Mandela Bay’s population is made up of 62.7% black residents, 19.2% coloured, 15.7% white and 1.2% Indian or Asian residents.
By comparison, the Eastern Cape provincial demographic profile is estimated at 85.7% black, 7.6% coloured, 5.6% white and 0.5% Indian or Asian.
The DA argues that using provincial demographics in municipal hiring unfairly prejudices coloured, white and Indian job seekers in Nelson Mandela Bay.
In addition the party wants the mayor and acting city manager to begin negotiations with the Department of Employment and Labour to allow municipal demographics to guide employment equity targets instead.
Should negotiations fail, the DA says the municipality should declare an intergovernmental dispute and if necessary, approach the courts to seek amendments to the Employment Equity Act and related regulations.
Odendaal said the DA remained committed to the principle of non-racialism.“We reject the categorisation of South Africans along race-based lines,” he said.
The municipality had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Photographs: DA EC/Supplied
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