Ward councillors cannot interfere in the municipal job-seekers database, says the City of Cape Town, despite two councillors admitting they had applied to do just that.
The Athlone News reported on this in last week’s paper (“Councillors plan to deviate from job seekers programme,” Athlone News, November 7), and asked the City to confirm whether deviation was allowed.
Unemployed people – who are registered on the City of Cape Town’s job-seekers database, which makes provision for temporary work – are selected by a random computerised process, so the same people are not considered for every project.
But Ward 50 councillor Angus Mckenzie and Ward 47 councillor Antonio van der Rheede said there were certain instances, such as when the job requires working with vulnerable groups, where councillors could apply to deviate from the random selection process.
However, City spokesman Luthando Tyhalibongo said the policy and management of the database did not allow for councillors to be involved with the process of “randomisation of workers”.
The policy did permit line departments to apply for an exclusion from using the database, but that was only “subject to an administrative approval process that does not involve councillors”, he said.