Sunday Tribune reports that the “sidelining” of better-qualified candidates for a top position has cost the eThekwini Municipality millions in compensation for those who should have been considered for the job.

In December, the local government bargaining council stipulated that the appointment of Steve Middleton, head of metro police, had been unfair. Last week it issued a quantification award in which it detailed how the candidates who had applied for the position should be compensated. The commissioner ordered the municipality to pay two senior metro police almost R3 million each in compensation and a protected promotion to the level of the head of metro police. The two cops, Aubrey Mthethwa, a senior-superintendent and Nhlanhla Mthethwa, an assistant commissioner, had through their union, Samwu, successfully challenged the appointment of Middleton. Both had applied for the post which was awarded to Middleton in 2018. They claimed Middleton’s appointment was not in line with the metro police employment equity policy and there was no motivation to support it in terms of the municipal policy. The union further argued that Middleton had never been a registered traffic officer and lacked the basic skills required for that job. In addition, the SA Police Services Act, which allowed for the establishment of a metro police force, stipulated that the head of metro police should be appointed by a sitting of the full council – which had not happened. The commissioner ruled that the failure by eThekwini to appoint either of the Mthethwas, who were both interviewed for the job, had been unfair as they were more qualified than Middleton. The municipality was ordered to pay all the stipulated compensation no later than the end of this month.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siboniso Mngadi at Sunday Tribune

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