Battle lines are being drawn in Cape Town as the municipality contemplates introducing the monitoring of staff members` phone calls, e-mails and Internet use in an electronic communications policy for the Mother City.
Should the policy be adopted, city manager Wallace Mgogi will be authorised to monitor staff members` phone calls, e-mail, Internet use and even post received. If the policy is adopted, failure to comply could mean strong disciplinary action such as termination of access rights and even dismissal.
It will also apply to external contractors, such as consultants, who will have to sign an agreement before commencing projects on behalf of the municipality. Information disclosure to third-parties will also be limited to "only discussions at hand".
The proposed policy has raised the ire of the SA Municipal Workers` Union and the opposition Democratic Alliance in the ANC/NNP dominated council, which claim the policy infringes on privacy rights and could be used to monitor people opposed to the ruling coalition.
Cape Town lawyers have also questioned the legality of the proposed policy, although local newspapers have reported that it is in line with the law.
Reinhardt Buys of law firm Buys Inc says: "To institute that policy, the Cape Town Municipality must get the written permission of all its employees, in accordance with sections three and four of the Regulation of Interceptions of Communications Act of 2002."
Buys says an employee cannot be fired for refusing to give such permission, although their access rights can be limited.
According to The Cape Argus newspaper, when the policy was discussed at a human resources portfolio committee meeting last week, some councillors made it clear that if workers were surfing the Internet for porn, they had to be dealt with. But it would be considered bad for morale if hard working staff believed their managers were "spying" on them.
"The proposed policy must clearly define things such as 'porn`, otherwise the municipality could find itself facing a lot of very expensive court time as employees start disputing what the terms mean," Buys says.
The policy comes at a time when the city is facing a cash crisis and up to 4 000 workers may lose their jobs.
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