Picture: The Naledi Local Municipal Manager, Modisenyane Thompson Segapo/Facebook
By OBAKENG MAJE
North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Patrick Nono Maloyi has written a letter to the embattled Naledi Local Municipality regarding the appointment of municipal manager, Modisenyane Thompson Segapo.
Segapo, who previously served as the municipal manager at Naledi Local Municipality, was appointed on 10 March 2023. However, Maloyi said in a letter that is seen by Taung DailyNews that, there were some incongruences on Segapo’s appointment.
“The appointment report as submitted has been evaluated against the requirements of the Local Government Municipal Senior Management Regulations. I confined myself to the procedural and substantive requirements, in so far as relates to the appointment of municipal and senior managers by focusing on the documents submitted as per Reg 17 (4).
“The appointment report partially comes with the prescribed content requirements. There are issues of non-compliance as the interviews were conducted 44 days after the screening process, which is more than 23 days of the screening process. This is in contravention to Reg 15 (1) on appointment and conditions of employment of senior managers,” he said.
Maloyi further said, the screening report was attached, but incomplete. He added that, there was also no letter from the national COGTA or evidence from the municipality that, the request for screening was sent to the National COGTA.
“MIE screening result is dated 1 July 2021, which is prior to the vacancy date (31 October 2022). Minutes of the interviews are non-compliant, not mentioning the top three candidates and those recommended for competency assessment.
“No written confirmation attached by the successful candidate that does not hold political office. The term of the contract as reflected on the letter of appointment is non-compliant as it exceeds the term of the council by four months,” said Maloyi.
He said, according to the information at his disposal, the recruitment process partially complies with the prescribed requirements of the regulations on appointment and conditions of employment of senior managers, therefore it is not supported.
During his portfolio’s budget speech tabling for the 2023/24 financial year at the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL) in Mahikeng yesterday, Maloyi said there are strategic measures in place to address the dysfunctional municipalities and building a brighter future with collaborative efforts for municipal reform.
“The state of local government in our province calls for our urgent intervention. The general performance of municipalities in the province has over the years been on a downward slope. One of the key enablers of this unpalatable state of affairs is the high vacancy rate in senior management positions, which undermines the effective and efficient execution of the local government mandate.
“On 1 March 2023, we issued a directive that all vacant senior management positions in municipalities must be filled before the end of April 2023. Currently, only 50% of the positions of municipal managers and 45% of senior managers have been filled. During the 2022/23 financial year, we conducted empowerment workshops to strengthen municipalities to comply with the anti-corruption measures,” he said.
Maloyi said, unfortunately, the compliance continues to be unsatisfactory. He said in collaboration with key stakeholders, they will continue to strengthen the capacity of municipalities to fully comply with the anti-corruption policy scheme.
“The department will further strengthen targeted training support to councillors to enable them to meaningfully execute their political oversight role and we will also ensure that ward committees are capacitated for them to be fully functional and effective.
“In our radar for the current financial year, we have 15 training projects which are meant to benefit 740 councillors, municipal officials, and ward committee members. The projected budget for this intervention is set at R6 million,” said Maloyi.
The Guardian 