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City Press reports that an alleged attempt by Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu to engineer the appointment of a man believed to be her confidant to the position of director-general (DG) has caused turmoil in her department, with even her own deputy sounding the alarm.
The conflict stems from the lowering and favourable adjustment of the appointment criteria to suit acting director-general Linton Mchunu, who served as Zulu’s chief of staff in her previous portfolio of minister of small business development. Fury around the proposed appointment resulted in Cabinet putting it on ice and has seen Nehawu, the majority union in the public service, writing to President Cyril Ramaphosa, demanding that he dismiss her for “nepotism”. The department has been without a director-general since the resignation of Zane Dangor in 2017. The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) was last week forced to withdraw Zulu’s written submission to Cabinet recommending Mchunu for the position. The post of director-general was advertised in 2019, 2020 and 2021, with no interviews being conducted. It was advertised again in June last year, but no interviews were conducted until a year later when Mchunu was recommended as the most suitable candidate ahead of two seasoned senior managers who were more qualified and experienced than he was. In its letter to Ramaphosa, Nehawu appealed for the dismissal of Zulu, Mchunu and the DPSA’s chief director of human capital management for what it alleged was involvement nepotism, job reservation and manipulation of the recruitment and selection process.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Norman Masungwini at City Press (subscriber access only)
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