Western Cape MEC for Social Development, Sharna Fernandez, has come under fire after the Public Service Commission (PSC) found her involvement in the recruitment of a senior official in her department irregular.
The commission investigated a complaint from a whistle-blower over the alleged irregularities in appointing Annemie van Reenen as chief director for service delivery management and co-ordination last year, with a salary of R1.25 million following a head-hunting process.
The position, which had been vacant since 2012, was opened for applications in 2020 but all four short-listed candidates were deemed unsuitable for the position - which led the department to institute a head-hunting process the PSC raised several concerns over. One of them being approaching a former recruitment panellist to apply for the position he previously presided over.
“The department, as we understand and as the documentation reflects, did not have a standard for how many candidates should be approached, how many should be interviewed, nor how these persons should be identified.
“The head of department had free rein in terms of who would be contacted and how broad or narrow the sourcing would be undertaken. It is peculiar that none of the current district directors in the department (were) identified for head-hunting.
“The head-hunting provisions contained in the recruitment and selection policy of the provincial government is found to be inadequate, nebulous and does not foster openness and transparency,” the PSC said in its report.
The commission also flagged Fernandez’s involvement in the recruitment panel given that she was a member of the executive.
“The recruitment and selection panel was improperly constituted and is thus rendered irregular and the appointment is deemed irregular.”
The PSC directed the department to negotiate with Van Reenen on her irregular appointment and if she did not agree to resign or transfer - the department was ordered to approach the Labour Court to declare the appointment null and void.
“This should be done without delay, the affected employee should be informed of the steps taken by the department,” read the report.
Fernandez’s spokesperson Esther Lewis said the MEC’s office was considering taking the report and its findings on review.
“The MEC is currently taking legal advice on the directions issued in the report ... The MEC did not find the process unlawful, it was found irregular by the Public Service Commission,” said Lewis.
In its recommendations, the PSC said that the department’s recruitment and selection policy pertaining to head-hunting should be reviewed “immediately”.
It also said: “The corporate service centre (that falls under the department of the premier) to research best practices in terms of head-hunting and incorporate these in a revised policy where practicable and viable.”
Winde’s spokesperson, Regan Thaw, said the premier was studying the contents of the report.
“The Premier was requested to approve that a head-hunting process could be instituted in the interest of applying a layer of objective oversight. The administration is re-looking at this policy to ensure further improvements,” he said.
This is not the first time a department in the Western Cape government was flagged for dubious or irregular appointments of officials. Earlier this month former head of department for education, Brian Schreuder’s one- year contract at the age of 69 was flagged by the PSC. Two years before that, the extension of his employment past retirement as HOD was also deemed irregular.
Cosatu’s Malvern de Bruyn said they welcome the latest findings.
“Cosatu Western Cape is not surprised by the latest developments in the Social Development department,” De Bruyn said.
“The findings are clear that the department did not follow due processes ... Cosatu is saying that the people responsible for this must be dealt with and if there’s more wrongdoing found they should be dealt with.
“We can’t allow the department to appoint someone based on cadre deployment ... The way in which this have been done is clearly not in line with the Public Service Act. They should revoke that and make sure that proper procedures should be followed to ensure that the suitable candidate be appointed.”
Weekend Argus