I WAS aghast that Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza has appointed Jacob Rabodila, a man with a highly questionable past, as the province's director-general (Sowetan, January 7).

Why did the premier appoint a man who had been suspended as municipal manager to such as responsible position? Why did he ignore the formal selection process to appoint Rabodila? Why were no reference checks carried out for such a senior position?

The plot thickens when one reads that Mabuza had reportedly originally planned to appoint Mike Maile of Paul Mashatile's Alex Mafia, who was notorious for contributing to the collapse of service delivery when he headed the inefficient Gauteng Shared Services Centre. Does he not care about competence and effectiveness, and cares only about cronyism and nepotism? He is in danger of single-handedly contributing to Mpumalanga again being called "Mamparalanga".

John McBurn, Florida