Amapanyaza hopefuls, Sibusiso Ngema, Mopedi Mamanehella and Francinah Makwa demand answers on the recruitment process of 6,000 crime prevention warden posts. Picture: Simon Majadibodu / Independent Newspapers
About 186 hopefuls from different areas in Gauteng are crying foul regarding Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s crime prevention warden posts, dubbed Amapanyaza, and are demanding employment after completing the recruitment processes.
Frustrated residents staged a protest outside Lesufi’s office in Joburg, on Wednesday, September 11, demanding answers about what happened during the recruitment process of the 6,000 job posts.
The 6,000 crime prevention warden job posts are part of Lesufi’s plan to combat crime which was launched in 2022.
Among other responsibilities, Amapanyaza wardens conduct stop and search operations, maintain law and order.
Residents claimed that they completed all the recruitment procedures for the posts, but since then, they have never heard anything back regarding their applications.
In an interview with IOL News, leader of the protest, Sibusiso Ngema from Ekurhuleni lamented that he suspects foul play in the recruitment process, as he was told he passed all the tasks.
“We did all the processes, from physical training where they checked if we are fit or not, wrote tests, took fingerprints and even took our uniform sizes,” he said.
Ngema said they were told to wait for a date to go to a college to start their training, but they never got back to them.
“We did several follow up at the Department of Community Safety, but they would chase us out and tell us to write down our names on the list.”
He said after the first intake of the crime prevention wardens, other posts were advertised, but targeting at coloured and Indian communities, which he said had gone to the training college while they were still left in the dark.
“They went to the training while we were still waiting to find out the main reason for us not to go there too. We are not happy with the whole thing at all and how things are being handled,” said Ngema.
Moleli Mamanehella, from the East Rand, echoed Ngema’s sentiments about completing all the recruitment processes, citing that she was anticipating changing her home situation through the job.
“I thought this job would help me support my family, but what hurts the most is that we did everything but yet we are not working. We voted for them. Now they are playing games with our lives. Lesufi did us a dirty.”
In addition, Francinah Makwa said: “We want answers of what exactly happened in the jobs posts. They are not even communicating with us, Lesufi must give us the jobs he promised to us.”
Meanwhile, accepting the memorandum of demands on the behalf of Lesufi, Romeo Mokone, promised to attend to the protesters' demands.
“We will respond to your memorandum of demands within 14 working days and we have already started engaging with the Development of Community Safety to find out what happened during the recruitment process.”
IOL News