Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi rejected an interview panel’s candidate for a top post and appointed a woman who did not meet the requirements for the job.
Stephina Selepe-Khubedu was appointed chief director for risk and compliance despite not having the necessary experience. She was the panel’s second preferred candiate.
Instead, Lesufi chose her for “gender balance and parity” and because she was a chartered accountant.
Selepe-Khubedu’s appointment in 2016 was investigated in 2019 by the Public Service Commission (PSC), which reported its finding in November.
It found that Selepe-Khubedu, 36, was the niece of the department’s supply chain director, Angie Nathane. It stated, however, that Nathane was not involved in her niece’s recruitment process.
The commission’s report referred to allegations that Nathane and the panel’s chair, Edward Mosuwe, were in a relationship. Contacted by the Sunday Times this week, both Nathane and Mosuwe vehemently denied the claims.
Selepe-Khubedu was appointed on a five-year contract for about R1m after Lesufi overturned the panel’s selection.
The commission found that she did not have the required five-year experience at a senior management level.
“Ms Selepe-Khubedu had a minimal experience in auditing with no working experience/knowledge of the public sector as required,” said the report. It said some of Lesufi’s reasons for the appointment were “unfounded”.
It said her qualification as a chartered accountant was not relevant to the post.
The commission’s report indicated that its finding and decision stood.
Ms Selepe-Khubedu had a minimal experience in auditing with no working experience/knowledge of the public sector as required
The department this week defended Lesufi, who has since taken remedial action against the panel members by suspending them from participating in any selection and recruitment process for two months from February 26.
Gauteng education department spokesperson Steve Mabona said it was rare that a chartered accountant could be declared unqualified for a finance-related risk position, “especially a young, dynamic woman who can bring equity and gender balance in the department”.
“We then wrote our explanation to the [commission] and unfortunately the same was not acceptable.”
He said the process of re-advertising the post had begun. Selepe-Khubedu’s contract expires at the end of next month.
Mabona said that Lesufi had recommended that all those involved in future recruitment and selection undergo training. “We accept the counsel provided by the [commission] and we believe things can be rectified.”
A spokesperson for Gauteng premier David Makhura, Vuyo Mhaga, did not respond to questions from the Sunday Times.
A complaint was lodged with the premier’s office by a department employee, Subashnie Govender. Govender alleged that Selepe-Khubedu and a relative, Puledi Selepe, had been irregularly appointed.
Selepe was appointed in February 2017 as director of enterprise risk management, a unit in Selepe-Khubedu’s ambit.
Govender, 42, who acted as director of enterprise risk management from August 2015 until January 2017, felt aggrieved when she was not shortlisted for that post.
She was dismissed in June 2019 for, among other things, unlawfully accessing Selepe’s personal information.
In February this year the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council found that the department had committed an unfair labour practice by failing to shortlist Govender for the post in which Selepe was subsequently appointed. While the council found Selepe’s promotion was substantively fair, it ordered the department to pay Govender R204,781 in compensation.
Meanwhile, the PSC report recommended that in future the department adhere to the requirements of the post advertised in all phases of the recruitment process.
Another recommendation was that Makhura should consider reprimanding all the panel members for shortlisting Selepe-Khubedu. According to the report, this included the head of department, Mosuwe.
The DA’s Gauteng spokesperson on education, Khume Ramulifho, said the party was concerned that the department’s risk and compliance post was filled by someone who did not meet all the requirements “while others were sidelined from the post”.
He said the DA would ask Lesufi why he overlooked the panel’s recommendation.
PSC spokesperson Humphrey Ramafoko said Makhura’s office informed the commission in February that Lesufi had implemented the report’s recommendations.
Lesufi asked Mosuwe to put measures in place “to ensure that all panels comply with the criteria”.
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