“I got my notice on January 30, and I was told to return my uniform on 31 January”.
These were the words of one of about 20 LEAP officers who picketed outside Athlone police station last week. Some of them were among the 66 who had been dismissed earlier this year while others were among the 47 currently facing incapacity proceedings.
Of the 66 whose contracts with the City were terminated at the end of January, 58 had failed their driving tests and 8 had not complied with the requirements to carry a firearm.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she had failed her firearms and driving tests.
Before being let go, she said, she had worked in the Philippi, Samora area, and since then had been rejected when she applied for other jobs with the City of Cape Town because it appeared she had been fired.
Also at last Thursday’s picket was an officer, who is among 47 officers who, at the beginning of this month, were issued with notices to attend incapacity hearings. She said she had failed a driving test despite the fact that she has a driver’s licence
The disgruntled officer, who is fighting to hold on to her job, added that she believed if they were all given a chance to drive, they would not have failed their driving assessments and would therefore not have lost their jobs.
“There is only one driver, you can have a driving tag but never get a chance to drive, as there are internal politics as well when it comes to the cars,” she explained.
At the picket, organised by the South African Municipal Workers’ Union to protest against what they described as the unfair dismissal of LEAP officers, the union accused the City of not following due process.
Samwu spokesperson Hlalanathi Gagayi said they had sent an email to Leap management on September 2 expressing their disagreement with the proposed dismissals.
“About 47 Leap officers have received notifications of incapacity hearings from the municipality, along with bundles of evidence and subsequently informed each of these policemen that there would be no hearing and that they would just need to provide a reason for not being fired — a novel move on the part of this municipality.
“Our email was responded to by the Deputy Chief of Law Enforcement simply saying as the City, they will not afford these members a fair hearing as submitted by us,” said Mr Gagayi.
He added that, on Wednesday September 4, the union sent an email to the City Manager expressing their concerns about the municipality’s apparent refusal to provide fair hearings for employees.
They received no response, he said.
So, on Monday September 9, they brought the matter to the attention of the mayor, via an email, which was also not responded to.
When Athlone News contacted the City for input on the matter, they confirmed that it was part of a formal arbitration process and that they would be guided by its outcome.
