The DA-led provincial government has paid out almost R8 million to staff members whose contracts were terminated early.
In a written response to a parliamentary question, Western Cape premier Helen Zille said 16 staff were involved.
Among them were former education chief Ron Swartz, former local government and housing chief Shanaaz Majiet and 13 social co-ordinators appointed by former premier Ebrahim Rasool.
More than R5m of the payments were made by the premier's department, with the education department paying Swartz more than R2.3m and local government and housing paying Majiet R396 000.
Zille said the province's former director-general, Virginia Petersen, did not receive a payout but the province paid R850 000 to the government employees' pension fund when she took early retirement.
Majiet and Petersen were among five senior officials that the Brian Williams Report recommended should be held accountable for their involvement in the Erasmus Commission, set up by Rasool in December 2007 to investigate the City of Cape Town's probe into councillor Badih Chaaban.
The city's probe was meant to determine whether Chaaban bribed councillors to cross the floor. In 2008 the Western Cape High Court ruled that it was set up for political reasons and was unconstitutional, following a DA challenge.
In September, Zille told the provincial legislature that Majiet's contract was due to expire on September 30, 2009, but that when she was put on a precautionary transfer pending a disciplinary investigation, she approached Local Government MEC Anton Bredell with a request that her employment be ended.
This happened with effect from July 1, 2009, but for the purpose of pension benefits it was terminated on September 30, 2009.
The R5m-plus paid out by Zille's department went to co-ordinators of the social transformation programme which was closed down at the end of March.
The programme was launched by Rasool to "uplift" 27 "vulnerable" communities identified by his administration, with the aim of tackling poverty, crime, unemployment and drugs.
In September 2008, then premier Lynne Brown told the legislature that a month before he was sacked as Western Cape premier, Rasool appointed 12 co-ordinators to work in the 27 communities.
She said the co-ordinators' job descriptions were not clear but they had been contracted for three years and each earned more than R30 000 a month.
Zille's spokeswoman, Trace Venter, said on Monday that the programme was closed down because all parties in the provincial legislature had expressed dissatisfaction with it.
"There was no value for money. Around R11 million being spent each year on the programme yet this expenditure was not benefiting communities," she said.
"Instead the bulk of the amount was being spent on the salaries of the co-ordinators and their hotel and travel costs."
Venter said a total of R32.2m was spent on the programme.
The ANC's Max Ozinsky said on Monday it was strange that Zille and the DA continued to criticise payouts to civil servants, yet had paid out R8m themselves.
"This is simply a purge of civil servants appointed by the ANC when it was in power. There are no tangible reasons given for the ending of contracts," said Ozinsky.
In a written response to a parliamentary question, Western Cape premier Helen Zille said 16 staff were involved.
Among them were former education chief Ron Swartz, former local government and housing chief Shanaaz Majiet and 13 social co-ordinators appointed by former premier Ebrahim Rasool.
More than R5m of the payments were made by the premier's department, with the education department paying Swartz more than R2.3m and local government and housing paying Majiet R396 000.
Zille said the province's former director-general, Virginia Petersen, did not receive a payout but the province paid R850 000 to the government employees' pension fund when she took early retirement.
Majiet and Petersen were among five senior officials that the Brian Williams Report recommended should be held accountable for their involvement in the Erasmus Commission, set up by Rasool in December 2007 to investigate the City of Cape Town's probe into councillor Badih Chaaban.
The city's probe was meant to determine whether Chaaban bribed councillors to cross the floor. In 2008 the Western Cape High Court ruled that it was set up for political reasons and was unconstitutional, following a DA challenge.
In September, Zille told the provincial legislature that Majiet's contract was due to expire on September 30, 2009, but that when she was put on a precautionary transfer pending a disciplinary investigation, she approached Local Government MEC Anton Bredell with a request that her employment be ended.
This happened with effect from July 1, 2009, but for the purpose of pension benefits it was terminated on September 30, 2009.
The R5m-plus paid out by Zille's department went to co-ordinators of the social transformation programme which was closed down at the end of March.
The programme was launched by Rasool to "uplift" 27 "vulnerable" communities identified by his administration, with the aim of tackling poverty, crime, unemployment and drugs.
In September 2008, then premier Lynne Brown told the legislature that a month before he was sacked as Western Cape premier, Rasool appointed 12 co-ordinators to work in the 27 communities.
She said the co-ordinators' job descriptions were not clear but they had been contracted for three years and each earned more than R30 000 a month.
Zille's spokeswoman, Trace Venter, said on Monday that the programme was closed down because all parties in the provincial legislature had expressed dissatisfaction with it.
"There was no value for money. Around R11 million being spent each year on the programme yet this expenditure was not benefiting communities," she said.
"Instead the bulk of the amount was being spent on the salaries of the co-ordinators and their hotel and travel costs."
Venter said a total of R32.2m was spent on the programme.
The ANC's Max Ozinsky said on Monday it was strange that Zille and the DA continued to criticise payouts to civil servants, yet had paid out R8m themselves.
"This is simply a purge of civil servants appointed by the ANC when it was in power. There are no tangible reasons given for the ending of contracts," said Ozinsky.
- Cape Argus
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