Sowetan reports that senior officials at the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) have been accused of rigging an interview process for the post of facilities manager in order to appoint their preferred candidate.  

This was the finding of an arbitrator at a bargaining council hearing which found that Linda Mphuti was deprived of appointment to a job after acting in the role for four years.  Mphuti filed a dispute after another candidate was appointed to the role, claiming that the interview process had been flawed and skewed in his competitor’s favour.  Arbitrator Itumeleng Williams recommended that the appointment of another official into the post be set aside because she was allegedly given an interview questionnaire prior to her being interviewed.  Williams indicated:  “The third party [the successful candidate] was party to the circumvention of a fair and objective recruitment process.  There is overwhelming evidence that she had either direct or indirect access to the executive director or the human resources manager, or both, before the interview process.”  Williams said the appointment of the successful candidate was unfair and that the failure to appoint Mphuti as facilities manager constituted an unfair labour practice.  But, the appointment has yet to be reversed nearly a year after the finding as the city has approached the labour court to review and set aside the award.  This matter is sub judice and before the labour court.

• Read more of the Sowetan report by Tankiso Makhetha at SA Labour News

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