DA reports Facebook post to MEC of COGHSTA

The social media post exposes confidential information relating to the interview process for the position of Municipal Manager (MM).

The post discloses the names and scoring information relating to three candidates and also makes mention of a mandate that had been given to Magagane regarding the scoring of the candidates. The post has since been removed.

The post breaches the declaration of confidentiality, as prescribed by the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, which must be signed by all panel members involved in the recruitment, selection and appointment of staff. The declaration requires that discussions emanating from the interview process be kept strictly confidential and that no information may be disclosed with any candidate or person who is not part of the Selection Panel until such time as the Municipal Council has approved the recommendations of the Selection Panel and the successful candidate has been duly informed about the outcome of the decision of council.

On top of this, the social media post also raises questions regarding the integrity of the Selection Panel members, and in turn suggests manipulation of the scoring process in order to achieve a predetermined outcome.

In this regard, the DA has further laid a grievance with the MEC in terms of the ad hoc constitution of the Selection Panel, which was convened to interview candidates applying for the MM position.

The informal manner in which the so-called Selection Panel was put together to appoint the MM, was not in accordance with the Municipal Systems Act and smacks of political sabotage. According to the Systems Act, Municipal Council must appoint a selection panel to make recommendations for the appointment of candidates to vacant senior posts. In this case, however, the process did not go through council.

The DA previously reported our above-mentioned concerns to the Mayor, Dineo Moyo, and the Acting Municipal Manager, Moses Grond. Given that no response has been forthcoming, we are now escalating this matter to the MEC of COGHSTA.

We are requesting that a disciplinary committee be established to investigate the social media post. We also want the entire appointment process to be done over by a council-approved selection panel which is constituted in a fair and transparent way.

We simply cannot support regulations that that are blatantly flouted and appointments that are manipulated in order to meet political directives.