Selection of trainee officers ‘dodgy’

A BCM recruitment process for trainee law enforcement and traffic officers has been slammed as “dodgy” and “rushed” after the municipality took only one week to select 28 successful applicants out of thousands of hopefuls desperate for employment.

Unsuccessful applicants, who were shortlisted and underwent fitness tests and interviews, have questioned how selections could be made in such short time. Successful applicants have been sent to Port Elizabeth for training.

The matter was raised at a council meeting two weeks ago, and has drawn the ire of some councillors who believe it is near impossible for such a recruitment process to be completed in a week.

One of the applicants, Mawande Mapuma, said according to the advertisement calling for applications, the closing date was January 18.

“On the Friday there was a long queue as people were still submitting their applications in town [at the BCM human resources offices]. On the Tuesday, I was called and told I had been shortlisted for both applications and had to go for a fitness test on Wednesday. I was told to bring R100 to do fingerprints. When I arrived in town, there were about 1,000 people already waiting and taxis were used to transport us to the Absa [BCM] stadium,” Mapuma said.

“I first questioned this R100 fee and we were later told that it was no longer needed after they heard our questions about this fee. I did very well in my fitness training. We ran, did sit-ups and push-ups. I came out on top in all these tests. We did the fingerprints at the stadium and later did a driving test and the officer even complimented my driving.”

After the tests, the applicants were told to expect a call before 8pm which would indicate access to interviews on Thursday.

“I received a call on Wednesday evening and on Thursday morning, we were taken to the East London traffic department office for interviews. The human resources official present during the interview said I should expect feedback between four to six weeks. I was very surprised when I heard that training was starting in PE the next Monday.”

The applicants called one another to establish who had been successful.

“We learnt that some people did receive a call and were leaving for PE to start training the next Monday,” said Mapuma. She added that upon asking BCM officials what had happened, “we were told the posts were fixed. We were just there for audit purposes”.

An unsuccessful applicant from King William’s Town, Nomalungisa Stuurman, who was also interviewed, said: “What happened to us was really painful. I was crying when I learnt of how we were played because I’m unemployed. A person who had failed a driving test in front of all of us was put through to be interviewed, and that shocked us.

“I passed all the fitness tests and even during the interview the questions were not difficult at all. But one could see just by the pace everything was going that something was dodgy because it was rushed,” said Stuurman.

The 28 trainee officers will each get a total package of R244,800 a year. BCM will pay a total of R829,486 for their training at the Nelson Mandela Bay Traffic College.

BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said the city had a policy that ensured that suitably qualified, skilled and competent staff were recruited.

Meanwhile, some councillors called for an investigation into the matter.

ANC ward 45 councillor Thozamile Norexe said city manager Andile Sihlahla’s deviation report concerning the R829,486 to be paid for training was inadequate.

“The report says training at the college commenced on the 28th of January 2019, accommodation was sourced by the directorate of corporate services … All of us as councillors here know that when you get thousands of applications, it would take you weeks or months to look at them and then reduce them to a certain number before you interview them,” Norexe said.

At the council meeting two weeks ago, EFF councillor Chumani Matiwane recorded his dissent over the deviation report.

A deviation was noted, and Sihlahla was instructed to bring a detailed report on the recruitment process to the next council meeting.

The council is then to decide whether the issue should be investigated.

But one could see just by the pace everything was going that something was dodgy