CLAUSE 3.2 IN MHLONGO’S CONTRACT, WRONGLY CRAFTED - PHIWAYINKHOSI

MBABANE – The contentious Clause 3.2 of the expired contract of embattled Municipal Council of Mbabane CEO Gideon Mhlongo was wrongly crafted.

This was the observation of outgoing Minister of Housing and Urban Development Phiwayinkhosi Mabuza following his decision to have it amended in Mhlongo’s extended five-year contract. This was part of what he termed his final ministerial order on the protracted contractual debacle between the CEO and the councillors. The latter had resolved not to renew the contract, citing among other things that he was no longer affordable to the city. They further alleged that his frosty relationship with the councillors and ratepayers made it impossible for them to re-engage him. Their reasons were, however, not accepted by the minister who ordered them to negotiate at least a three-year contract extension with the CEO by  July 20 or he would grant him a five- year extension.

When he eventually did it, in a letter dated July 24, the minister stated that the terms and conditions of the contract would be similar to the recently expired one; with the exception that clause 3.2 should be revisited. “It was an anomaly that I noted in the whole contractual issue between the CEO and the council. I felt that the clause was not properly crafted because the correct procedure places the onus on the employee to indicate first if he was interested in having it renewed, not the employer. I corrected that even though I was not the one who did it, but it was signed by the council,” he said. He said everything he did on the contractual issue was to demonstrate his objectivity as opposed to the growing perception that he was siding with the chief executive officer.

upholding a general principle

He said his ministerial orders were nothing but upholding a general principle that appeared to be on the verge of being violated when renewing the contract. “The principle has always been simple when it comes to renewing and that has been solely based on his performance. And when the council presented his performance report, it showed that he had done well. “You have to have strong reasons therefore not renew if the candidate has performed well. As a minister, I had to look beyond the corridors of the city of Mbabane, for a precedence that would have affected the whole country if allowed,” he said. When imposing the CEO’s five-year contract to the council, the minister, in his letter, cited part of the disturbing allegations of sabotage which were contained in the Section 27 report by acting CEO Bongani Dlamini during the negotiations done by the council.

Mabuza said the reasons advanced by the council not to renew flew against the very disturbing report accompanying the minutes of the council when Mhlongo’s contract was negotiated. He said he had invoke Section 47 of the Urban Government Act of 1969 to renew the contract upon realising that the council was not prepared to follow his July ministerial order. The clause states that where a council refuses, fails or neglects to comply with any provisions requiring it to appoint certain staff, the minister may, after having given the council not less than 14 days prior to notice of his intention to do so, exercise, on behalf of the council and on such terms and conditions as he deems expedient, the powers of appointment conferred upon the council by the act. It was an assertion that received a huge disapproval from a couple of councillors who felt that the minister acted outside of his jurisdiction to do so because the act gave the council powers to hire a CEO or town clerk.

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