City of Tshwane - Metropolitan municipality

How to apply for City of Tshwane vacancies

The City of Tshwane advertises its jobs in numbered Job Forums on tshwane.gov.za and takes applications only through its Tshwane Careers portal. It is free, online only, and the City never recruits through WhatsApp or Facebook.

Updated 18 September 2026 ·By GoCareers
Open the Tshwane Careers portal
Careers portal
careers.tshwane.gov.za
Vacancy list
Job Forums page on tshwane.gov.za
Applications
Online only, via the portal
Closing time
Midnight on the closing date
Cost
Free
Portal help
erecruithelp@tshwane.gov.za
Recruitment Centre
Middestad Building, 252 Thabo Sehume Street, Pretoria CBD

Who can apply

  • Anyone who meets the appointment requirements printed in the Job Forum for that specific post. If you do not meet them, the application is not considered
  • Most Job Forums are marked Internal/External, so both City employees and members of the public can apply. A few are internal only and say so on the cover page
  • General worker posts (job level T1) ask for the ability to perform the duties, including physical ability and basic literacy. Artisan assistant posts (T2) ask for basic literacy. General workman and operator posts (T6) ask for Grade 10
  • Clerical and administrative posts (from about T7) ask for Grade 12, often with computer literacy in Word and Excel
  • Artisan posts (T10) ask for a red seal trade certificate, for example plumber, bricklayer or mason, plus relevant experience and usually a Code C1 licence with PrDP
  • Technician, engineer, commander and management posts ask for a national diploma or degree in the relevant field plus years of experience
  • TMPD trainee intakes have asked for Grade 12, age 18 to 35, residence in the Tshwane municipal area, a manual driver's licence, medical and physical fitness and no criminal record (from third-party summaries of the 2025 advert, see below)
  • Interns and work-integrated learning students (TLMA database) must have completed a relevant N6, diploma or degree, need workplace experience to graduate or have no work exposure, and must be permanent residents of the City of Tshwane municipal area
  • Preference may be given to appointable applicants from under-represented designated groups under the City's Employment Equity Plan. People with disabilities are encouraged to apply

What you'll need

  • A private email address (Gmail, Yahoo or similar) that you can access. City employees may not register with a @tshwane.gov.za address
  • Your full work history with accurate start and end dates, job titles and duties. Your online profile is your CV, so incomplete profiles get screened out
  • Details of every qualification from your highest school grade upwards, with institution names and dates
  • Names and contact details of references who can be phoned
  • The Job Forum reference number of the post (for example PWWS449-2026 or EMSS217-2026), so you can find the right advert
  • For shortlisting and interviews: certified copies or originals of your ID, Grade 12 certificate and all tertiary qualifications. The City verifies qualifications from Grade 12 upwards before appointing
  • Where the advert asks: driver's licence (Code B, C1 or PrDP), professional registration and proof of residence
  • For most posts you must undergo a criminal record check and allow the TMPD to take your fingerprints at your own cost

Step by step

  1. Find the current Job Forum

    Go to Job Forums on tshwane.gov.za (Home, Quick Links, Job Forums). Each numbered PDF lists a department's posts with the reference number, job level, salary scale, appointment requirements and closing date. Note the reference number of any post you qualify for.
    Tip: The same adverts also run in newspapers when they are open to external applicants. If an advert is not on the Job Forums page or the careers portal, it is not a City of Tshwane vacancy.

  2. Register on the Tshwane Careers portal

    Open careers.tshwane.gov.za and click Sign up now to create an account with a private email address. If you already have an account, click View profile and log in. Job Forums since mid-2026 direct all internal and external candidates to this portal.
    Tip: Register and complete your profile as soon as possible, not on the closing day. Profiles can be created at any time and reused for every future application.

  3. Complete your profile in full

    Fill in personal details, contact details, every qualification from school upwards, every job with start and end dates and a description of your duties, and your references. The City screens against the printed appointment requirements, so if the profile does not show the qualification or experience the post asks for, you will not be shortlisted.

  4. Search for the post and apply

    Use View All Jobs or search by keyword and reference number. The portal has separate job lists for the City of Tshwane (cot), Housing Company Tshwane (hct) and the Tshwane Economic Development Agency (teda). Open the advert, check the requirements again, and submit your application.
    Tip: Apply separately for each reference number you qualify for. Applying for one post in a Job Forum does not cover the others.

  5. Submit before midnight on the closing date

    The online system closes at midnight on the closing date printed in the Job Forum and no late applications are accepted. Most forums are open for about two weeks. If you get an error while registering or applying, email a detailed description to erecruithelp@tshwane.gov.za. Do not send your CV or application to that address; it will not be accepted.

  6. Wait 21 days and prepare your documents

    If you hear nothing within 21 days of the closing date, treat the application as unsuccessful. Shortlisted candidates are asked for certified copies or originals of their qualifications and other documents, and must attend the interview at the date and time on the invitation. Cancelling on the day disqualifies you from the rest of the process.
    Tip: Appointments are subject to verification of qualifications from Grade 12 upwards. Claiming a qualification you cannot prove disqualifies you, and for internal candidates it is treated as misconduct.

How and how often Tshwane advertises vacancies

The City does not run a single annual recruitment drive. It publishes numbered Job Forums through the year, each one covering a department, region or business unit. By mid-September 2026 the City had already published Job Forum 49/2026, so a new forum appears roughly every week, and each one is usually open for about 14 days.

Recent examples from the official Job Forums page:

  • Job Forum 45/2026, Region 1 (27 August to 10 September 2026)
  • Job Forum 46/2026, Group Human Capital Management (27 August to 10 September 2026)
  • Job Forum 47/2026, Regions 3 and 5 (28 August to 14 September 2026)
  • Job Forum 48/2026, Water and Sanitation Business Unit and Region 6 (31 August to 14 September 2026), which included eleven general worker posts, artisan assistants, plumbers, a foreman, process controllers and an administrative officer
  • Job Forum 49/2026, Emergency Services (3 to 17 September 2026), covering fire and rescue commander posts

All five of those forums had closed by 17 September 2026, and when we checked the careers portal on 18 September 2026 its search returned no open positions. Do not rely on this page for what is open: check the Job Forums page and View All Jobs on the portal, which are updated as new forums open.

Types of jobs and what they pay

Every Job Forum tags its posts under one of these categories: Administration, IT, Managerial, Political, Professional, Safety, security and EMS, Secretarial, Semi-skilled labour, Support services, Technical and Unskilled labour. Posts are graded on the municipal T scale and the advert prints the salary scale, so you do not have to guess.

Scales printed in Job Forums 42/2026 and 48/2026 (per annum, before benefits):

  • General worker (T1): R173 436 to R202 668. Requirement: ability to perform the duties, including physical ability and basic literacy
  • Artisan assistant (T2): R180 864 to R217 740. Requirement: basic literacy
  • General workman or operator (T6): R246 672 to R342 588. Requirement: Grade 10, often with a Code C1 licence and PrDP
  • Administrative officer (T7): R276 264 to R383 700. Requirement: Grade 12 and computer literacy
  • Artisan, red seal plumber or road builder (T10): R388 116 to R539 040

Higher posts (engineer technicians, process controllers, functional heads, deputy directors, fire commanders) ask for diplomas or degrees and multiple years of experience. Most posts, from general worker upwards, require a criminal record check with fingerprints taken by the TMPD at your own cost, and many operational posts require willingness to work shifts, standby and overtime.

TMPD, firefighters, EPWP and interns

Tshwane Metro Police (TMPD): metro police trainee intakes are advertised as a Job Forum (for example Job Forum 28/2025, Metro Police Trainees, 23 July to 5 August 2025) and applied for on the careers portal like any other post. The City reported that 200 TMPD recruits started training at the Tshwane Leadership and Management Academy on 14 September 2026. Third-party summaries of the 2025 advert list Grade 12, age 18 to 35, residence in Tshwane, a manual driver's licence, medical and physical fitness and a clean criminal record; confirm the exact requirements in the next official Job Forum before applying. Permanent TMPD and security posts (for example Job Forum 30/2026) are also advertised this way.

Firefighters: Emergency Services posts run through the same Job Forums (Job Forum 9/2026 and Job Forum 49/2026 in 2026). Learner firefighter posts, when advertised, appoint permanently only after the prescribed training, including Firefighter 1 (NFPA 1001), Hazmat Awareness and Operations (NFPA 1072) and First Aid Level 3.

EPWP: Expanded Public Works Programme work is not applied for on the careers portal. Jobseekers who live in Tshwane, aged 16 to 60, register on the City's EPWP database with a certified copy of their ID, proof of residence and proof of disability if applicable. Projects last from one day to 12 months and cover construction, trench digging, litter picking, cleaning, gardening, storm water drains, plumbing, road marking and some data capturing and filing. The application form and banking form are on the EPWP page. See our EPWP guide.

Interns and students: the City builds a student-in-training database (reference TLMA-2026 in 2026, closing date extended to 7 August 2026) for work-integrated learning, experiential training and internships of 12 months (university), 18 months (TVET generic fields) or 24 months (TVET technical fields). Applicants must be permanent residents of the Tshwane municipal area and apply on careers.tshwane.gov.za. Enquiries were listed as Ms E Kolobe (012 358 4125) or Mr A Thifhulufhelwi (012 358 7514) for universities and Ms N Mahlangu (012 358 0001) for colleges.

The old e-Recruitment link versus the new Tshwane Careers portal

For years the City used an SAP e-Recruitment system reached from the e-Services menu on tshwane.gov.za (the Register, Search and Login links on the Career Portal page). The City's 21-page applicant user guide describes that system: register with a private email, complete the profile because it is your CV, no CV or document uploads, and search by reference number followed by an asterisk.

From 2026 the Job Forums instead direct candidates to careers.tshwane.gov.za (Sign up now or View profile). When we tested the old e-Recruitment links on 18 September 2026 they returned a server error, so use the new portal. The rules carried over unchanged: complete profile, no late applications, 21-day rule, documents only at the selection stage, and erecruithelp@tshwane.gov.za for technical problems only.

City of Tshwane job scams

The City has issued repeated warnings, most recently about a fake general worker advert (April 2024), a fake Facebook page called Online Jobs using the City logo (May 2024), a fake truck driver vacancy (June 2025), and a message directing applicants to a fake website called simply-jobs.co.za that had copied real posts from Job Forum 24/2025 (June 2025). Earlier scams invited people to bogus admin clerk interviews.

The City's own position, from its January 2025 media release: it will never require any fee for job applications or recruitment, and any request for payment is a scam. Vacancies are advertised only in newspapers and on tshwane.gov.za (Job Forums and the careers portal). The City does not have a Facebook recruitment account and does not recruit through WhatsApp, SMS or phone calls to a cellphone number.

  • Any advert with a cellphone number to call, a Gmail address, or a link that is not tshwane.gov.za
  • Interview invitations for posts you never applied for
  • Requests to meet in a park or other public place to discuss a job
  • Requests to pay for registration, uniforms, training, medicals or to secure an interview
  • Adverts promising thousands of general worker or learnership posts with no reference numbers

Recruitment contact details

  • Portal problems (registration or applying): erecruithelp@tshwane.gov.za. Technical problems only; applications sent here are not accepted
  • General recruitment enquiries: LJ Moleli, 012 358 4346 (as printed on 2026 Job Forums)
  • Recruitment Centre: Upper Ground Level, Middestad Building, 252 Thabo Sehume Street, Pretoria CBD
  • Post-specific enquiries: each advert lists the manager's name and 012 358 number; use those for questions about the job itself
  • Report job scams: TMPD 012 358 7095 / 7096; Anti-fraud and Corruption Hotline 080 874 9263

Frequently asked questions

How do I apply for City of Tshwane vacancies?
Find the post in the current Job Forum on tshwane.gov.za, then register on careers.tshwane.gov.za (Sign up now), complete your profile fully and apply for that reference number before midnight on the closing date. There is no other route: no emails, no hand delivery, no walk-ins.
Are City of Tshwane applications online only?
Yes. Every 2026 Job Forum says internal and external candidates must apply on the Tshwane Careers portal, and the online system closes at midnight on the closing date. CVs emailed to erecruithelp@tshwane.gov.za are explicitly not accepted.
Does the City of Tshwane charge to apply for jobs?
No. The City has stated that it will never require any fee for job applications or recruitment, and that any request for payment is a scam. The only cost you may face is having your fingerprints taken by the TMPD for the criminal record check, which is done at your own cost once you are in the selection process.
Do I need to upload certified copies when I apply?
Not at application stage. The City asks for certified copies or original documents during the selection process, when you are shortlisted or invited for an interview. Your online profile must still show every qualification and job accurately, because that is what you are screened on.
How often does Tshwane advertise vacancies?
Roughly weekly. The City had published 49 numbered Job Forums by mid-September 2026, each usually open for about two weeks. New forums appear on the Job Forums page on tshwane.gov.za and in newspapers when the posts are open to external applicants.
What does a City of Tshwane general worker earn?
General worker posts are graded T1 with a printed scale of R173 436 to R202 668 per annum in Job Forum 48/2026. The requirement is the ability to perform the duties, including physical ability and basic literacy, plus a criminal record check.
How do I apply for TMPD or firefighter jobs in Tshwane?
The same way as any other post. Metro police trainee intakes and Emergency Services posts are published as Job Forums and applied for on careers.tshwane.gov.za. Check the Job Forums page for the next intake; requirements such as age, residence, licence and fitness are printed in the advert.
How do I know whether a Tshwane job advert is real?
Find it on the Job Forums page at tshwane.gov.za or on careers.tshwane.gov.za. The City does not advertise on Facebook, WhatsApp or through cellphone numbers, and never asks for money. Report suspicious adverts to the TMPD on 012 358 7095 or 012 358 7096.

Related guides

How to register for EPWP

Short-term public works jobs, including the City of Tshwane EPWP database.

How to register on SA Youth

Free national platform for youth jobs and programmes, alongside municipal applications.

Z83 form 2026

Needed for national and provincial government posts; the City of Tshwane uses its own online portal instead.

Last updated 18 September 2026. We review and refresh this guide regularly — if something here is out of date, let us know.