Opposition parties at Maquassi Hills local municipality in North West are fighting an attempt by the ANC to appoint a manager who is apparently not qualified for the job.
One of the parties, the South African Political Association (Sapa), says it has become common practice in the municipality to make unlawful and inappropriate appointments without following due processes.
Maquassi Hills municipality faces backlash over senior post vetting
Sapa councillor Sello Moraka said, with the protection of their party, ANC councillors continued to circumvent procedures in the appointment of senior staff.
Sapa and other parties are challenging the appointment one official, Tshepo Mokgabi, who was recommended for a senior managerial position despite having a questionable BA public administration honours degree.
They are demanding he produce an undergraduate degree.
Mokgabi is among eight officials who were vetted and whose academic qualifications were verified through the academic institutions they attended.
The reports on other officials were yet to be released as the investigators promised to issue them after obtaining the information from the academic institutions and the quality assessment authority.
No record of required undergraduate degree
A Potchefstroom-based law firm that was appointed by the municipality to investigate the qualifications of several managers including Mokgabi’s, found no records of Mokgabi’s bachelor’s degree in its probe.
This despite the fact he obtained an honours degree from Management College of South Africa in April 2020.
In his CV, which was scrutinised by the investigators, the manager also listed a certificate of executive leadership management obtained from the University of Pretoria.
Both of the qualifications were confirmed as legitimate.
But the undergraduate degree remained a mystery and some councillors refused to accept that Mokgabi should be hired without proof of having such a qualification.
No RPL
There is no indication from the report he qualified to do an honours under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), which is considered by universities, for an individual with extensive work experience and some certificates obtained for admission.
In Mokgabi’s case, no RPL was mentioned which qualified him to register for honours.
The firm’s report said its investigation and research found no junior degree could be found in Mokgabi’s name and that Mokgabi did not mention a junior degree in his CV.
The probe concluded that the official does not have any junior degree, was never registered or admitted for it for any period at Mancosa and such a degree was never issued in his name prior by the institution.
Sapa’s Moraka said ANC members in the council made public statements on a local radio station voicing their support for the Mokgabi’s unlawful appointment and pressured fellow party members who opposed the matter to agreed to support it.
ANC councillors demand appointment proceed
“Sapa considers this conduct inconsistent with the principles of good governance and the constitution. Sapa will pursue this matter to ensure compliance with the law and the Constitution,” Moraka said.
The investigators said due to limited time, it had resolved to issue individual reports for each official when that individuals’ records became available.
The report recommended, among other things, that a detailed investigation on the circumstances which allowed Mokgabi to be admitted and awarded the BA public administration honours degree, without the requisite junior degree, should be considered.
It also said Maquassi municipality was entitled by law to request the official to produce his junior degree, even if was not disclosed in his CV.
