No more jobs for friends in Joburg as Mashaba launches skills audit

City of Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba has announced that the city will launch a skills audit of city employees in a bid to improve service delivery.

Mashaba issued a stern warning to city officials, saying that the days of patronage were over.

The audit comes as a fulfiment to an election promise, Mashaba said, where he vowed to ensure that the city employed the right people for the right job.

The audit will be conducted by an independent, external body to ensure that there can be no claims of political interference or bias.

“The days of patronage and using city posts to reward friends and family are over in the City of Johannesburg,” Mashaba said. “It is now the time to build a city that our residents can be proud of.”

Talk of the audit has sparked worries over a staff purge, especially following the announcement by the DA-run city of Tshwane that over 900 workers will be retrenched.

Mashaba has previously criticised the former ANC council which had run the municipality before the 2016 elections, alluding to widespread corruption and nepotism which had hampered service delivery in the metro.

The mayor said he will also conduct a forensic audit, targeting expenditure and tenders that have raised suspicion.

“Hear me and hear me well, there will be no slaps on the wrists, there will be no quiet departures or golden handshakes,” he said.

“Those found guilty of corruption and fraud will go directly to jail.”

There was over R5 billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure over the last administration’s term in office.

The skills audit will start on Thursday, 6 October, the mayor said.

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