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City Press reports that Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu’s determination to appoint her department’s acting director-general, Linton Mchunu, on a permanent basis has been taken further in that she allegedly instructed the human resources department to resubmit her motivation for the appointment to the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA).
Her human resources manager, Deven Chinappan, has meanwhile issued an internal memorandum, requesting Zulu’s approval of the reappointment of Mchunu as acting director-general from 4 October until March 2024. His current contract will expire at the end of September. Senior officials and members of trade union Nehawu say this has been Chinappan’s modus operandi for repeatedly extending his contract since 2020. It was reported last month that Zulu was accused of nepotism after allegedly lowering and favourably adjusting the appointment criteria to suit Mchunu, who served as her chief of staff in her previous portfolio of small business development manager. Objections to Zulu’s motivation for confirming Mchunu in his position included one from her deputy, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, and forced the DPSA to withdraw his name from being confirmed by Cabinet. Nehawu has called on the department to halt the process of reappointing Mchunu as acting director-general. “The reappointment is unlawful and goes against the prescripts of the public service regulations in terms of an acting duration,” claimed the union’s Lwazi Nkolonzi. However, the department has defended his appointment and said all regulatory provisions had been compiled with.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Norman Masungwini at City Press (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page