Makana Municipality has appointed Human Resources Manager Xolela Kalashe to act in the position of Corporate Services Director after Etienne Mager’s three months’ acting period expired last week.
Makana Municipality has appointed Human Resources Manager Xolela Kalashe to act in the position of Corporate Services Director after Etienne Mager’s three months’ acting period expired last week.
The position has remained vacant after former Corporate Services director Mzukisi Madlavu was axed by Makana last year. Mager has been acting in the position since Madlavu was suspended, until after he was ultimately fired.
The position was advertised in a national newspaper on 25 September and subsequently in a regional newspaper on 26 September. The closing date for applications was 14 October.
Madlavu was fired for misconduct after being found guilty during an internal disciplinary hearing.
He was accused of taking time off work without leave. At the time Madlavu denied any wrongdoing and labelled his suspension and subsequent disciplinary action a witch-hunt.
This decision was taken during a special council meeting in the Council chambers on 24 February last year. The suspension was effective immediately, according to a confidential council item tabled in that meeting.
It emerged during a special council meeting on Thursday last week that Kalashe was one of 53 people who had applied for the position when it was advertised in September.
He was subsequently short-listed. However, only two people (including Kalashe) out of the 53 were short-listed, mostly because they did not have a Certificate Programme in Municipal Development (CPMD) which is a prerequisite for the position.
Others did not meet the minimum requirements for the job. Norman Botha was the second person who was short-listed. Former Makana administrator Jongisizwe Gomomo also submitted an application for the position, but he was not short-listed.
Applicants who applied for the job, according to an item that was discussed in a confidential session of the special council meeting last week, needed to be in possession of a degree in Human Resources Management; plus five years appropriate managerial experience, preferably in a local government environment and a CPMD as per Treasury Regulations.
Candidates for the position were short-listed on 11 November in the management committee room in the City Hall.
The panel which was made up of acting municipal manager Mandisi Planga, Chairperson of the Finance Portfolio Committee Nombulelo Masoma and N Kondile from the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs came to a unanimous decision that the vacancy needed to be re-advertised.
This, according to the item, was due to a poor response as only two candidates passed the initial screening process. Makana’s Recruitment Policy dictates that at least a minimum of three candidates need to be short-listed.
This week on Wednesday 7 December Planga confirmed that the position would be re-advertised next week in a national publication.
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