Tensions flared in Caledon Park in Ficksburg as community members demonstrated outside a local sewage treatment plant, demanding transparency and fairness in the upcoming hiring process for a R95 million refurbishment project. The Setsoto Local Municipality has since dismissed allegations of nepotism and favouritism, stating that no appointments have been made.
The protest, organized by residents of the predominantly coloured community in Caledon Park, saw participants voice their frustration over what they describe as systemic marginalization. Community leaders stated that their youth, though qualified, are consistently overlooked for municipal job opportunities.
“We are marginalized,” said one community spokesperson. “Our people need work. Our youth are unemployed. We never get a chance. We are qualified, but when we applied, we never get called. Nothing happened.”
The core of the dispute revolves around the hiring of a Community Liaison Officer (CLO) and general workers for the major infrastructure project. Protesters allege that a CLO has already been appointed and is secretly employing people, bypassing a promised fair process.
“We spoke to the municipal manager and the post was readvertised,” the community spokesperson explained. “We were hoping that people who submitted their CVs would be considered… but none of them were called. Yet last week we received information that the CLO is already employing people.”
However, Setsoto Mayor Seipati Mbiwe has firmly denied these claims. In a statement, Mayor Mbiwe asserted that the municipality has not appointed a CLO nor begun hiring general workers for the plant.
“I’m still waiting for the project scoring committee to get the report as far as the CLO is concerned,” Mayor Mbiwe said. “I won’t say the process is being flawed because even the people claiming that the process is being flawed, they’ve not brought whatever they know to my office.”
The Mayor confirmed that the recruitment process for general workers is planned to be conducted through a raffle system, with 14 workers to be hired from each ward in the municipality.
With the community vowing to escalate their protests if their demands are not met, the Setsoto Local Municipality says it is working to improve its infrastructure amid the growing discontent. The situation remains at a standstill, with residents calling for a process to “start from the beginning” and the municipality maintaining that official hiring has yet to commence.
