The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has called on the Buffalo City Speaker for an urgent probe into alleged political manipulation of jobs, EPWP opportunities and municipal resources.
The party says it has formally escalated its allegations of political interference in municipal employment opportunities in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, calling for an urgent investigation spanning all 50 wards ahead of the local government elections.
The party’s national spokesperson, Zama Ntshona, said the ATM’s formal complaint was received by Buffalo City Council Speaker Humphrey Maxhegwana on Monday, 5 October.
The complaint alleges that publicly funded employment opportunities, including Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) positions, municipal infrastructure and other public resources may have been used to advance African National Congress (ANC) political interests.
The ATM has also placed Executive Mayor Princess Faku at the centre of allegations concerning the use of municipal resources and is asking the Speaker to investigate her alleged knowledge, involvement, authorisation or facilitation of the disputed activities.
The allegations have not been proven, and the ATM’s submission specifically asks that the claims be tested against municipal records, witness evidence and other documentary material.
The complaint has now been expanded beyond individual wards to cover all 50 wards in the metro.
The party says community members have supplied lists containing names of people they believe received municipal employment opportunities. The party has submitted those lists as information requiring verification and has stressed that inclusion on the lists is not, by itself, an allegation of wrongdoing against any beneficiary.
ATM wants every name checked against Buffalo City’s recruitment, appointment, payroll, attendance and EPWP records.
It wants investigators to establish who identified or recommended beneficiaries, who controlled beneficiary lists, who approved appointments, which programme and budget funded each position, when the appointments were made and what selection criteria were used.
A particular focus is being placed on appointments and deployments made during September.
According to the submission, a municipal directive dated 13 August required affected EPWP contracts, activities and participant deployments to cease by 31 August pending review and approval processes.
The municipality has previously said the directive applied to a portion of the EPWP programme rather than the entire city-wide programme.
The ATM is now asking investigators to establish precisely which programmes were affected by the directive, which projects remained authorised after 31 August and what authority existed for appointments or deployments made during September.
The party alleges that some people may have been appointed or deployed because they were ANC members or volunteers, or through the influence of ANC candidates, councillors or party structures.
It wants these claims tested against official records rather than accepted as fact.
The complaint specifically names ANC Ward 39 candidate Odwa Sheshegu and branch secretary Siya Mpetsheni, asking investigators to establish whether either had any role in identifying, recommending or facilitating publicly funded employment opportunities.
The ATM also refers to Ward 39 councillor Lunga Gqola, saying he told the party he was not involved in allocating the jobs and did not know how the opportunities were being distributed.
The party says this raises the question of who controlled the process if the sitting councillor was not involved.
Ward 22 ANC candidate Sandile Mqwashini is also named in the complaint. The ATM wants investigators to determine whether he had any lawful municipal authority to identify, recommend or facilitate beneficiaries in the ward.
The complaint further raises allegations concerning Ward 23 councillor Simbongile Sydwell Gulwa and approximately 200 employment opportunities allegedly associated with the ward.
The ATM wants the municipality to disclose the programme and budget involved, the number of positions, appointment authority, selection process, beneficiary lists and communications involving Gulwa.
The party has also raised concerns about municipal water infrastructure, alleging that a municipal water tank was moved to Ngxwalane Extension in circumstances involving people associated with the ANC.
It wants investigators to examine the tank’s asset records, original location, destination, deployment instructions, work orders, vehicle records and communications surrounding the move.
The complaint also contains a fresh allegation concerning a municipal vehicle.
The ATM alleges that on 3 October, during a visit involving Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina and Faku at Slimela VD in eMalambeni, a branded municipal vehicle, registration HYR 479 EC, was used in circumstances where party-political interests were allegedly being advanced.
The party wants Buffalo City to produce the vehicle’s register, logbook, trip authority, fuel records, driver details, GPS information where available, destination and official purpose.
It also wants photographs, videos and the programme for the event examined to determine whether party branding, canvassing, distribution of political material or other electoral activity took place.
The ATM has asked that Faku be given an opportunity to provide a written explanation and produce any authorisation for the vehicle’s use.
The party says that if the evidence establishes that municipal resources were used for party-political purposes, appropriate proceedings should follow.
The complaint invokes constitutional principles governing public administration, including professional ethics, accountability, transparency and the requirement that public administration serve the public impartially and fairly.
It also raises possible implications under the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act and its Electoral Code of Conduct, particularly if publicly funded employment opportunities or municipal resources were found to have been used to influence voters.
The ATM’s latest submission follows earlier allegations concerning the Buffalo City EPWP programme.
The Citizen reported in September that ATM had alleged some of its volunteers were offered municipal jobs after being encouraged to exchange ATM T-shirts for ANC ones. Ntshona said the party believed some volunteers subsequently received EPWP positions. The Citizen said it had approached the ANC in the Eastern Cape for comment and was referred to the ANC’s Buffalo City regional structures. No substantive ANC response was reported.
The allegations have also been raised by other political parties.
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) approached the Electoral Commission of South Africa over separate allegations that municipal employment opportunities were being used to influence political support in Buffalo City. The IEC confirmed that it had received the complaint and was examining it.
The municipality has previously rejected allegations that EPWP opportunities were allocated according to political considerations. Buffalo City said an August directive concerned a review of part of the EPWP programme and was linked to compliance and administrative processes.
The Citizen also reported in August that hundreds of EPWP workers faced the termination of their contracts following the municipality’s directive. The report included claims from an anonymous ANC source that the jobs had been created to bolster support for Faku ahead of an ANC regional conference, while the municipality maintained that the programme was being reviewed because of compliance concerns.
Those claims remain allegations, and there has been no finding establishing that the ANC, Faku or the named individuals unlawfully used municipal employment opportunities to influence voters.
Ntshona said the ATM was not asking the Speaker to presume anyone’s guilt.
Instead, he said the party wanted the municipality to establish who authorised the jobs, who selected or recommended beneficiaries, who controlled the lists and whether political considerations played any role.
“Public jobs and state resources belong to the people — they must never be used as instruments of political patronage or electioneering,” Ntshona said.
The ATM wants all relevant employment, EPWP, payroll, financial, communication, vehicle and infrastructure records immediately preserved.
It is also asking the Speaker to provide the party with a written acknowledgement of its complaint, a reference number, details of the investigation process and reasonable timeframes.
The party wants any evidence of electoral violations, financial misconduct, corruption or criminal conduct referred to the appropriate authorities.
With the local government elections approaching, the ATM says the central issue is whether Buffalo City’s publicly funded resources have been administered through lawful and objective processes or whether political actors were able to influence who benefited.
For now, the allegations remain untested.
The requested investigation would have to establish whether there was any political interference, who may have been involved, whether municipal rules were breached and whether any public resources were used for electoral purposes.
At the time of print, there was no comment from Buffalo City Council Speaker Humphrey Maxhegwana and the ANC in the Eastern Cape; as soon as one is received, it will be updated.
