Tshwane probes another official’s hiring
Senior executive’s diplomas in question
The city of Tshwane has launched an investigation into the status of the qualifications of its emergency services boss Previn Govender, in the latest of scandals involving the hiring of top officials in the capital.
The South African Municipal Workers Union in Tshwane wrote a letter to executive mayor Solly Msimanga questioning Govender’s qualifications as head of emergency services.
Govender was appointed to the position, which has an annual salary of more than R1.2-million, in August last year.
His highest qualifications, according to his CV, are an Advanced (associate) Diploma in Fire Technology obtained from the Southern African Emergency Services Institute (Saesi) obtained in June 1996, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Fire Engineering Science from Institution of Fire Engineers in the UK, which he obtained in December of the same year.
In his CV, Govender stated that the Saesi diploma was an NQF Level 7 qualification.
The SA Qualification Authority (SAQA) has, however, disputed the level of one of his qualifications, saying the Saesi diploma is not an NQF-registered qualification and therefore cannot be assigned an NQF level.
SAQA’s CEO Joe Samuels said Saesi was a professional body recognised by SAQA, but said the advanced diploma was an in-house qualification historically offered by Saesi.
Samuels said the Institution of Fire Engineers in the UK was an overseas body officially recognised in that country, but SAQA had never received an application for this qualification to be granted SAQA status.
“If anyone applies to SAQA with a qualification from this body, we would establish whether the qualifications are registered in the UK. We cannot express a definite view until we receive such an application,” Samuels added.
This is the latest scandal to hit Tshwane’s top echelons after Msimanga’s chief of staff, Marietha Aucamp, resigned under a dark cloud when it was discovered that she had lied about her qualifications for the R1.2-million per annum salary post in May.
Last month, it also emerged that executive head in the mayor’s office, Stefan de Villiers, was appointed to the position that required a bachelor’s degree as a minimum qualification, which he does not possess.
The metro’s spokesperson, Selby Bokaba, said that the city had received the certificates and verified them during the selection process, but were not aware of SAQA status of these qualifications.
“With the new development, we were not aware. The city manager (Moeketsi Mosola) has vowed to launch an investigation into the information that has come to light,” he said, adding that the processes to be followed would be guided by the outcome of the investigation.
Govender referred all questions to city manager Mosola’s office “as this is an employment-related query”.
Govender reports directly to Mosola, who in June said he had personally overseen the appointment of all senior managers reporting to him and had verified their qualifications with SAQA.
As emergency services boss, Govender runs the capital’s fire brigade, emergency medical services, disaster management, specialist task force and emergency operational call centre.