IHAVE always thought (and hoped) that the idea behind job vacancy advertisements was to attract applicants with the necessary qualifications, skills and expertise to meet the employer’s requirements to fill a particular function.

The adjudication process also avoids the possibility of corruption and nepotism.

I am sure that was in the mind of Great Kei municipal manager Andile Sihlahla when he placed newspaper ads, inviting candidates to apply for the positions of directors of strategic services, technical and community services, and corporate services.

These are important positions within the municipality’s structure, and, may I add, also well-paid positions, especially for a cash- strapped local government such as Great Kei. So one would assume Sihlahla and the adjudication panel would have opted for candidates who met the requirements.

That is why a candidate for the position of director of technical and community services needed a recognised three-year B degree. A profile of Zandisile Nonjuzana, the successful candidate, showed that he is currently studying for a B Tech qualification in water engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and that he also did a B Tech course in urban engineering at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. I assume that he has furnished the panel with the necessary documentation. Better now, than six years later!

May I add that one of his competitors for the job, Mawabo Ntolosi, holds a Master’s degree in engineering from the Swinburne University of Technology.

Potential candidates for the two positions of directors of corporate and strategic services need not have applied unless they possessed recognised post-graduate degrees. That is what Sihlahla’s ads clearly stated.

Mandlenkosi Makhohliso, the newly appointed director of corporate services, is currently working on his B Admin honours degree at the University of Fort Hare. But, as we all know, unless a degree has been conferred by a university, the student cannot lay claim to it. Whether in this case the panel decided to give Makhohliso grace to complete his honours, I don’t know.

The academic requirements for his counterpart – the director of strategic services – also called for a post-graduate degree. In my humble opinion, Dumisani Mbizeni took a long shot when he applied for the job. That he got it must have surprised him even more than Sihlahla, who should have questioned Mbizeni’s credentials

Granted Mbizeni, whose application was gratefully received late, obtained a senior teacher’s diploma, for which he majored in maths and physical education, and did an advanced certificate in education at the Cape College of Education.

But that is a far cry from a post-graduate degree or equivalent in economic development, or the minimum of five years’ experience at management level in local government.

You see, Mbizeni worked as a teacher for nine years in a secondary school. Since he left teaching in 2005, he sold motor cars for Ronnies Motors. His only experience in economic development, it seems, was attending a pre-owned vehicle sales training programme and the launch of a Chrysler.

Compare him to Nomboniso Mntwini, who served the municipality with distinction as a strategic manager and holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from Fort Hare, or Xolelwa Majiza, who did a Master’s in Urban Renewal and Economic Development. And Lulama Taleni, who got a Master’s in Labour Relations and Human Resources. Or Albert Bluhm, who has a B Juris degree.

Given Mbizeni’s puzzling appointment, I suppose it does not even matter to mention that Lungile Matshikwe, another of the potential candidates, completed his PhD at Stellenbosch University.

No, Great Kei opted for a car salesman.

Interesting that die-hard former Great Kei municipal manager Oxley Ngqele also had a go at the job. Problem is that Ngqele is still subject to a Special Investigation Unit look into financial irregularities at Great Kei.

My question is: W hy the newspaper ads (although we welcome the revenue), when the requirements don’t matter?

Eddie Botha is Daily Dispatch Investigations Editor