Army man got top job without papers

05 December 2008 - 02:00
By unknown

Kingdom Mabuza

Kingdom Mabuza

According to documents in the possession of Sowetan, a defence force officer was appointed to the post of Chief of Defence Material - responsible for armaments and procurement in the SA National Defence Force - without meeting the necessary requirements.

The advertisement for the post - now held by Antonie Visser - stated that eligible candidates should have "an engineering qualification and knowledge of the procurement environment".

Sources told Sowetan the late SANDF secretary January Masilela, pictured, did not support Visser's appointment because "he did not see the need of appointing an unqualified white male while overlooking qualified black people".

But SANDF spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini told Sowetan that "the cabinet concurred with the impact his (Visser's) appointment" had on the overall employment equity targets for the department of defence.