Note to editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Mbali Mnaba.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) condemns the continued failure of the Moqhaka Local Municipality to fill critical senior management positions. For the past two years, key roles including Chief Financial Officer, Director of Corporate Support Services, Director of Community & Social Services, and Director of LED & Planning have remained vacant.
These positions have been re-advertised multiple times due to non-compliance with legislation. According to the report presented by the Executive Mayor in council on 19 April 2024, interviews for directors were held outside the timelines stipulated in the local government regulations on the appointment and conditions of employment of senior managers. Consequently, the entire recruitment process must be restarted, necessitating another round of advertisements.
As these positions are re-advertised, interim acting directors are appointed every three months, leading to instability within municipal departments. This has fostered a culture of non-transparency and lack of accountability.
It has been reported that over R100,000 was spent on the previous advertisement cycle. With the need to re-advertise these posts, additional municipal funds will be required to cover the new advertisement costs.
To make matters worse, the Accounting Officer, who is responsible for this process, has been suspended. The recruitment process must now be coordinated by the Acting Municipal Manager (MM), whose acting term is coming to an end at the end of the month.
We will raise these issues in the next council meeting to get answers on what has delayed the appointments up to this point and what specific costs have been incurred. A priority for a DA government is to establish an effective, professional, and merit-based public service system with a sole focus on delivering quality services to all South Africans.
We are committed to bringing change across the country and therefore urge all residents to vote in the 2024 National and Provincial Government elections on 29 May.