Bhisho MPLs 'too scared to sleep in village'
Union cries foul as politicians travel 2 hours a day for luxury beds
Politicians may be taking the government to the people, but not after dark.
Instead, 60 or so Bhisho MPLs will be sleeping on fancy beds in Mthatha, leaving their 130 legislature staff to enjoy the hospitality of Mqhele villagers.
Union Nehawu has blown the whistle on how Eastern Cape MPLs, apparently fearing for their safety, will no longer spend the week in Mqhele outside Elliotdale.
This is the venue for the legislature sitting between Tuesday and Friday, and the MPLs and staff were initially scheduled to be accommodated in village homes as part of a “taking the legislature to the people” programme.
The multiparty public representatives apparently asked to be accommodated in secure B&Bs and hotels in Mthatha 58km away, according to labour union Nehawu’s legislature branch chairperson Madoda Nkwali. This means they will have an arduous ride every day.
This arrangement will not apply to the 130 civil servants who will accompany them and who will be put up in the village, despite Nehawu saying “what’s good for the goose should be good for the gander”.
A number of MPLs who spoke to the Dispatch on Monday confirmed plans were initially to house them at Mqhele, but said they were aborted after security fears were raised.
Nehawu legislature branch secretary Jason Basson last week wrote to the legislature bosses crying foul, saying workers were being “discriminated against” by being forced to sleep in the village while politicians slept in Mthatha.
Basson stated the workers had voiced their displeasure about the “uncomfortable conditions” they would be subjected to in the village as part of the institution’s home-stay approach.
Basson wrote that if fears were raised for the safety of the MPLs, these concerns should apply to staff too.
“The union is disappointed. ... We respect all the different levels of authority at the institution, but we are of the view that all human beings are equal. We have noted that accommodation was always a choice of the affected individuals, but were shocked by the imposition of choice,” wrote Basson to administration head Vuyani Mapolisa.
Basson said those affected most were “junior staff”.
In his reply to Nehawu, Mapolisa told the union that the home-stay approach would save travel costs and enhance the principle of taking parliament to the people.
“It will also enhance productivity as staff will not have to travel long distances, while it will also reduce the costs as the accommodation will be cheaper.”
In an interview with the Dispatch on Monday, Mapolisa confirmed that the politicians were staying in Mthatha.
However, this had nothing to do with security fears, he said, and more to do with a shortage of accommodation in the village.
MPLs were used to spending nights in rural households, he said.
He defended the decision to put the staff up in the village saying: “I am also staying in the village.
“There has been no complaint. Staff are happy about the village arrangement.”
In his reply to Nehawu, Mapolisa explains that the decision to put staff up in the village had reduced travelling distances and other costs.
“We have sensitised the security personnel to ensure that there is surveillance in the area,” said Mapolisa, adding that the institution’s “top management” was to be accommodated in the village as well.
On Monday, Mapolisa told the Dispatch “the principle” was for all to sleep at the village, “but due to an accommodation shortage” it was not possible.
He said police were visible in the area and that safety was not a concern.
At a media launch for the week-long event on Friday, speaker Noxolo Kiviet said the legislature had adopted the “home-stay approach” in “recognition of the need to have some economic spin-offs for the community of Mqhele village”.
Kiviet said it had been a standard practice of the legislature to procure services for the event from service providers in the district where the legislature was sitting, saying the objective was to contribute towards economic development in that particular area.
Kiviet said: “This process will involve inputs from the targeted 1,000 participants who shall be representing the vast and diverse communities of Mbhashe municipality on a daily basis.”
But on Monday, Nkwali said workers remained unhappy about the arrangement.
“We feel that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If they fear for the safety of MPLs, they should do the same for staff. If they want to save costs by not booking people in luxurious and expensive hotels and B&Bs in faraway Mthatha, that should apply to politicians as well,” said Nkwali...
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