Municipal Manager audit needed after fired Sundays River manager reappointed
The former municipal manager of the Sundays River Municipality who was fired for maladministration and corruption has now been appointed acting municipal manager of the Mbhashe municipality.
How can Siphiwo Sohena keep reappearing in the public service, despite leaving the Nelson Mandela Metro in 2004 under a cloud of controversy over signing off on golf shirts at R560 a pop for a conference and being fired from Sunday River Municipality after being found guilty on 11 charges of corruption and mismanagement in this once vibrant, well managed local authority? This is an example of cadre deployment at its worst.
After Sohena left Sunday's River he was appointed senior manager for human resources and the legal unit in the provincial department of local government. It emerged in the media late last year that Sohena then got "promoted" to head Operation Clean Audit 2014.
Now he is wearing yet another hat, as acting municipal manager of the struggling Mbhashe municipality.
The government appears to have a skewed sense of excellence by referring in a media report to Mr. Sohena having "a wealth of experience".
Sending Sohena to Mbhashe must indicate that there is a dire shortage of suitably qualified, fit for purpose municipal managers in this province.
The Eastern Cape cannot afford to continue limping along with shoddy and non-existent service delivery in municipalities because of vacant posts and inept municipal managers.
I have written to the MEC for Local Government, Mlibo Qoboshiyane, asking him to explain why Sohena was appointed to this position given his questionable past employment history in municipalities. I have also asked the MEC to undertake a skills audit of municipal managers in the province.
If such an exercise is undertaken I will request that the information be made public together with corrective measures to recruit fit for purpose municipal managers.
With the municipal elections due in May, it is imperative that all municipalities have qualified and able municipal managers to drive the service delivery wishes of the electorate.
Statement issued by Dacre Haddon (MPL) , DA Eastern Cape Spokesperson on Local Government, January 23 2011
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