Former FTLM officers allege nepotism, withheld certificates in R2m training saga

BURGERSFORT – A group of former traffic postmen are demanding immediate reinstatement by the Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality (FTLM), claiming they were “used and dumped” after completing a R2-million traffic warden training programme without receiving their certificates. 

The dispute stems from 2022, when the group says they were recruited by the municipality as traffic postmen and sent to Polokwane to complete an accredited Traffic Wardens course. 

“We joined the municipality in 2022 and were taken to Polokwane to complete the Traffic Wardens course. But we left the training academy without graduating,” said Mokale Kopano Matheba, speaking on behalf of the affected officers. 

According to Matheba, the group could not graduate because the Provincial Commissioner of Police was unable to sign off their certificates, as the FTLM couldn’t submit their appointment letters deliberately.

“Without those appointment letters, the Commissioner couldn’t issue the certificates,” he said. 

The group returned to the municipality and continued duties as traffic postmen, despite not holding official warden certificates. 

In 2024, the municipality issued an internal memo selecting candidates for National Traffic Diplomas in Mpumalanga. Matheba and his colleagues believed they were part of the programme. 

However, in July 2025 their contracts were terminated. The municipality reportedly told them that traffic wardens had already been appointed, and that the group was “undergoing training” for the National Diploma in Mpumalanga. 

Matheba disputes this. “Our contracts were terminated without proper notice. The municipality refuses to give us our original certificates from the provincial training.” 

Matheba alleges the process was deliberately mishandled to benefit officials’ relatives.

“There is a lot of corruption and nepotism taking place there. The officials who sabotaged us want to take their friends and families to continue with the Traffic Diploma programme. We were just fronts paving the way for their people without us knowing,” he said. 

He claims the group approached their trade union for assistance but were turned away. “We were told the union was mandated by seniors within the municipality that they must not entertain us,” he said.   

Attempts to resolve the matter internally, he added, have failed. “We approached all avenues of the municipality but we were never assisted. They did this deliberately because they want to create a way for their families and friends,” Matheba said.   

The group is now calling for urgent intervention. “We demand the municipality reinstate us to our traffic postmen duties with immediate effect. We won’t stop fighting until we are redeployed. What they did to us is unconstitutional and they know it. We can’t be appointed and later dumped because they want to replace us with their people when things get better,” Matheba said. 

At the time of publication, FTLM had not responded to requests for comment on the issues.