Frank Maponya

Frank Maponya

The office of Limpopo Premier Sello Moloto has been rocked by another employment scandal.

Allegations have emerged that appointment procedures were violated in the employment of 11 senior managers in the premier's office.

The officials were appointed in 2003 by former director-general of the province, Manching Monama.

She allegedly authorised the appointments despite attempts by other senior officials to stop her.

Machike Thobejane, chairman of the portfolio committee on public administration in the legislature, said yesterday that they had conducted an investigation and discovered that procedures were violated in the appointment of the officials.

He said they had since instructed Moloto's office to "regularise" the appointments.

"We have discovered that in the appointments of the 11 officials, the posts were not advertised as required by law," said Thobejane.

He claimed Monama had flouted procedures by "just" earmarking people for particular posts without following procedure in making the appointments.

It has been found that two of the officials did not have the necessary qualifications.

"We want punitive measures to be taken against the said officials because this cannot be allowed in public institutions. We have done this in consultation with the office of the Public Protector," he said.

Spokesman for the provincial government, Mogale Nchabeleng confirmed that the Public Protector had expressed the need for recruitment and selection policies to be reviewed.

"The office of the premier will look into each of the appointments to determine if there were any irregularities, and if such is found, appropriate action within the confines of the law will be taken," he said.

He added that the premier's office had been conducting skills and qualifications audit for all civil servants in all departments "in order to create a quality public service that can equal the challenges and tasks at hand".