MAHIKENG MAIL - MAHIKENG: The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) in the North West has expressed outrage at what they dubbed “the reckless and scandalous appointment of a Chief Financial Officer at the North West Parks and Tourism Board facing serious allegations of financial misconduct at Madibeng Local Municipality”.
The CFO is currently out on bail for alleged corruption committed at Madibeng Local Municipality.
Expressing their concern, last week, the trade union said the appointment was not only an insult to the hard working and law abiding public servants of this province, but also a spit in the faces of the residents who suffer daily under poor service delivery, collapsing infrastructure and rampant maladministration.
The Union further accused the department’s political head, MEC Bitsa Lenkopane for presiding over the appointment of the CFO, established that the CFO was the only candidate taken for a competency assessment which was a flagrant violation of the entity’s recruitment and selection policy which required at least three suitable candidates to undergo such assessments for transparency, fairness and merit based appointments.
NEHAWU argued that this brazen manipulation of process was clearly designed to engineer a predetermined outcome in favour of a politically connected individual.
“To make matters worse, the CFO was not subjected to the mandatory security vetting and screening processes - a crucial legal requirement for occupying such a critical senior management post within any public institution.
“This deliberate by-passing of established governance protocols represents a serious governance breach and exposes the department and the provincial government to enormous financial and reputation risks.
“NEHAWU has noted with disgust mounting allegations that this MEC has been turning the department and its entities into a personal employment agency for friends and family members. We are reliably informed of a growing pattern of irregular appointments, side lining of qualified professionals and the systematic purging of employees who refuse to toe the line of corruption and patronage,” said NEHAWU.
The trade union said they will be writing to the Public Service Commission (PSC) demanding a comprehensive investigation into all appointments made since the MEC assumed office - including at all public entities falling under the department’s control.
“We refuse to allow the systematic hollowing out of state institutions to continue unchecked while workers are expected to deliver services under incompetent and politically connected managers.
“As NEHAWU, we demand, among others, the immediate reversal of this disgraceful appointment; a full investigation by the Office of the Premier into the processes leading to this appointment and the suspension and investigation of the MEC for her continued abuse of public office for personal and factional gain; an urgent probe by the Public Service Commission into all appointments affected since the tenure of the MEC in the department and its associated entities and intervention by law enforcement agencies, including the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), into the financial dealings of both the CFO and the MEC.
“Failure to act decisively on this matter will leave us with no option but to mobilise our members and the broader working class for mass action against the department and those responsible for this rot.”
In their response the Departmental Spokesperson, Jerry Matebesi said, “the Department has noted all the allegations raised by NEHAWU. A proper response will be issued in due course after an investigation.”
