When Ramanugu Londolani volunteered as a borehole operator at the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) in Limpopo in 2016, he hoped to rise within the council’s ranks and be employed permanently. The 37-year-old married father of two from Lwamondo Village in Thohoyandou says he bought equipment and water chemicals after the municipality promised him a permanent job.

He says Limpopo ANC Deputy Chairperson Florence Radzilani, then VDM mayor, told him and other volunteers their futures were secured as long as they worked hard. In the future, the municipality would prioritise their work experience and community service when advertising jobs. Londolani says his hopes were raised in 2019 when the council absorbed some of his colleagues.

This motivated him to work harder even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, Londolani applied when VDM advertised borehole operator positions. To his shock, he was left out and later ditched for good in favour of less experienced recruits. Those hired include the alleged relatives of the current mayor, Deputy Regional Chairperson Freda Nkondo, and other party members.  

“The municipality did not treat us right. They ill-treated us for many years. I joined the municipality in 2016. I have volunteered since 2016. We worked dedicatedly. Even the tools that we were using we had bought ourselves. We bought the medicines; now we are stranded. A while back, they promised to employ us permanently as youth, but when the posts were advertised, we were very shocked that we were not prioritised. They told us to go home. Just imagine that,” said Londolani. 

“We worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, but to them, that was nothing. I feel the municipality did not care about us at all. Another thing that is painful is that these people who were employed do not even have experience in water distribution. Communities are not getting water because the current borehole operators know nothing.”

Londolani is among 530 borehole operators who volunteered for over a decade to be sidelined when VDM advertised posts. He says he volunteered for years without any payment until 2020, when Vhembe District Municipality moved them to its Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

The council said it couldn’t afford to absorb them as promised because it lost hundreds of millions after investing illegally in the now-defunct VBS Mutual Bank. Instead, they received between R2100 and R2600 monthly stipends as EPWP employees. He adds that losing his job is having a devastating impact on his family. 

“My children still go to school. I will need to buy school uniforms. I was relying on that stipend. Imagine I must buy food. That is the problem. I can’t even sustain myself. We have been volunteering since 2013, getting nothing, and in 2020, we were transferred to EPWP, earning between R2100 and R2600. They said they did not have money because of the VBS scandal, so they took us to the EPWP,” Londolani added. 

Londolani says Nkondo kicked them out when she took over, saying they should stay home until posts are advertised. “She said we must go home when posts are open; she will make a plan for us. To me, that was a sign that she does not want us at all. She kicked us out, in fact.”

Thomas Vukeya (51), a borehole operator volunteer at VDM borehole operator since 2013, shared Londolani’s sentiments. He accused the municipality of exploitation and acting in bad faith. Vukeya says VDM suddenly called them EPWP employees when they were, in fact, volunteer borehole operators. 

“Volunteering for many years and ending up without a permanent job is very painful. These people promised to employ us when there is an open space. Yes, they could not employ us permanently at once. In 2019, some people were promoted to permanent posts, so from there, we had hoped it would be the same for us. For seven years, I did not get even a cent. In 2020, they transferred us to EPWP so that we could get paid a little. Now the municipality calls us EPWP employees. They said they had no money because of the VBS scandal. Those people exploited us. We worked even during the COVID-19 pandemic. We thought maybe we were going to permanent jobs at the end, which never happened,” Vukeya said.

Another borehole operator, Lovemore Maimela (52), reckoned that the VDM realized they had lost money in the VBS saga and decided to transfer the volunteers into EPWP to be released later. He said Nkondo and other municipal officials hired their relatives when they later advertised the posts. 

“They wasted our time. This thing affects our families. I feel like illegal foreigners who do not qualify for any jobs in South Africa. They advertise posts and hire the way they wish. Posts were advertised, but they hired their relatives. They hire themselves as politicians. They give each other jobs. They have always promised to employ us permanently as we are volunteers for the municipality. It ended up not happening. When posts were advertised, they would take one another by the hand and hire themselves,” Maimela said. 

Other affected volunteers included Pertunia Mulaudzi, who was based at Dzindi Plant in Lwamondo. On November 20, the EFF in Vhembe region led a march to Nkondo’s office, accusing her of nepotism. The EFF’s Regional Deputy Secretary, Dunani Baloyi,  demanded the immediate re-advertisements of the borehole operators’ posts. 

Baloyi said Nkondo allegedly facilitated the employment of 11 general workers from Malamulele, where she resides. He says these workers are her close friends, family members, and former ANC party agents who worked in the last general elections.

Baloyi also alleged the driver and chief of staff in Nkondo’s office hired their wives.

“There were posts that were advertised and people applied as usual, but after appointments, we found out that in the office of the mayor there is a driver, there is a chief of staff, and I am not sure if it is the PA or not. I am not sure of the position of this third person, but he works in that office of the mayor. These three hired their wives. We also found in Malamulele, where the mayor comes from, sections B and C, 11 people have been hired. These are people, we all know; they are related to her. They were ANC party agents during election time and are very close friends of the mayor. Even in Ward 21 in Malamulele, four people were hired who were party agents and also close with the mayor,” said Baloyi. 

Baloyi added: “Overall, when we checked, we found that many people who were hired were chairpersons and secretaries of the ANC branches in the region. They are not just ordinary people. These are people who owe allegiance to the mayor. We don’t want to interfere in their factions, but we know these people are close to the mayor. Whether it is Musina, Makhado, or Thulamela, it is the same thing. Only people who are close to the mayor were hired.”

In March 2024, VDM advertised 123 general worker posts, eight water operator posts, 10 service worker posts, and eight artisan posts. Other posts included four mechanical engineers, three electrical engineers, one civil engineer, a fire instructor, a secretary to the municipal manager, and two VIP protection posts attached to Nkondo’s office. 

“There are people who have volunteered for the past 11 years, the borehole operators; those people were promised to be prioritized once posts were open. Now as we speak, they were overlooked. They hired girlfriends and relatives. We are fighting for them. Even though they will not hire all of them but at least hire a quarter of them. They did not do that. They hired no one. Now, when they try to inquire, the municipality issues a protection order to never set foot on the municipality premises. We call for re-advertisement of the posts so that they can reconsider these people as well who volunteered for all these years,” Baloyi added.

Nkondo said she was too busy to comment on the nepotism allegations levelled against her. “I cannot comment on that; I am busy now with something else, ” she said, then dropped the call.