The ANC in the Moses Kotane local municipality in North West has come under fire for putting forward for municipal positions party leaders and card-carrying members in the Bojanala region who did not have matric certificates.
(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
The ANC in the Moses Kotane local municipality in North West has come under fire for putting forward for municipal positions party leaders and card-carrying members in the Bojanala region who did not have matric certificates.
The positions include that of a risk officer, senior process controller and organisational development practitioner.
A WhatsApp message, which the Mail & Guardian has seen, showed that 14 ANC members, who were named, had been earmarked for job posts in the municipality.
But the municipality said it followed proper recruitment processes and dismissed the social media message as fake and intended to damage its reputation.
The message read: “The individuals listed below must be given full consideration for the short list. The following names have been submitted by ward councillors.”
“Please promptly inform me of any difficulties which may arise. Going forward, we must consider modifying our communication approach for this matter. The list will be finalised before 1st of October. In the meantime, continue with sifting. Both MMC Molefe and Manganye will assist with other comrades not included here.”
A source said the 14 were ANC leaders in various branches, and were being given preference even though some of them do not even have matric.
“Those are ANC card carrying members. All those names are the people who were delegates at the regional conference. It’s a fightback strategy to put their delegates in the municipality,” they said.
“Whether it’s factional in the ANC, it is unethical in the public sector to be conducting ourselves in that way. If I’m a mayor and I get my family in positions in the municipality, it’s unethical. These are administrative posts, these are not political positions.”
The Democratic Alliance has also taken the ANC to court for putting its members in government positions without proper qualifications.
On Thursday, people staged a protest outside the Moses Kotane municipality offices during an ordinary council sitting, complaining about the unfair recruitment practices at the municipal offices and accusing ANC councillors of only hiring the party’s card-carrying members.
In a memorandum, the residents expressed their anger, including over the widely circulated screenshot of a message purporting to provide a list of preferred individuals, referred to as comrades, whose names were submitted by ward councillors.
“The message further directs that both MMC Molefe and Manganye will assist with other comrades not included in the list,” a source said.
“In the list referred herein above, all the names included in the message are of only ANC card-carrying members from various branches across Moses Kotane local municipality.”
In a statement, the municipality refuted allegations of unfair recruitment processes and distanced itself from the hiring list being shared on social media, saying it was fake and aimed at damaging its reputation.
“Moses Kotane local municipality is committed to ensuring that the recent recruitment process is fair, transparent, and in compliance with the stringent local government municipal staff regulations Chapter 3, which lays out how to determine recruitment needs and competency in each vacancy, selection, shortlisting procedures, interviews, and appointment of each vacancy in support of a broader integrated development plan gearing service delivery,” it said.
“There is no direct control over hiring procedures by ward councillors, and candidates must not be misled.”
The statement said there was no proof to support the claim that the list originated from a ward councillor or local government representatives.
ANC Bojanala regional spokesperson Thabo Molamu said the party was worried about such unethical practices irrespective of whether the allegations were true or not.
“These are the practices which anger our people because there is no fairness in the process if it is indeed true. People will feel as if the ANC is manipulating the process for their own selfish interests and their own comrades,” Molamu said.
“We need to ensure that at all times, we adhere to good governance practices. We can not allow this to happen in municipalities that are led by the ANC.”