ANC blocks report on feuding pair
Officials stay mum why discussion on OTP spat shelved
THE ANC caucus at the Bhisho legislature this week blocked the presentation of a report meant to shed light on the ongoing dispute between two senior office of the premier (OTP) officials.
A report on the ongoing feud between OTP’s provincial communications general manager Mandisa Titi and former branding and marketing senior manager Nolitha Mbangcolo-Matshikwe, was scheduled to be tabled at a legislature sitting on Wednesday.
But the ANC put the brakes on the move when it tabled the motion, preventing the report from being discussed by MPLs.
This came after Mbangcolo-Matshikwe petitioned the legislature earlier this year in a bid to force her OTP bosses to implement recommendations of the Public Service Commission (PSC), that she be reinstated to her old job.
The report was to be tabled by legislature’s OTP portfolio committee chair Sicelo Gqobana, who yesterday confirmed that the tabling of the report was blocked minutes before the scheduled time.
“Yes it was part of the reports scheduled to be tabled, but it was shelved after the ANC deputy chief whip [Kholiswa Fihlani] tabled a motion against that.”
He refused to comment further, saying the report was yet to be tabled.
Contacted for comment yesterday, a cagey Fihlani only said: “I have no comment”.
According to the report seen by Saturday Dispatch, Titi was Mbangcolosupervisor when she refused, without explanation, to sign her performance agreement for the 2014-15 financial year, resulting in “strained working rel between the two.
Mbangcolo-Matshikwe, who has since been removed by OTP bosses and placed at a post that is “non-existent” and where she is “not qualified to be placed”, had initially approached the PSC on the matter, recommendations of which have never been implemented by OTP.
Mbangcolo-Matshikwe sought the intervention of Titi’s boss, deputy directorMahlubandile Qwase, who convened various meetings in a bid to to resolve the squabble.
“The working relations improved for a short period but soon returned to being strained.
“The performance agreement between the petitioner and Miss Titi was not signed as required. Instead the agreement was signed by Mr Qwase,” states the yet to be tabled report.
On September 29 2015, Mbangcolo-Matshikwe lodged a formal dispute at OTP over Titi’s failure to sign her agreement, “as well as about non-existent working relations between them”.
Her grievance was not resolved within the stipulated timeframe of 30 days, forcing MbangcoloMatshikwe to resort to PSC in April last year, which investigated and handed over a report to premier Phumulo Masualle in September last year. The PSC recommended to Masualle that:
Qwase desist from signing performance agreements of staff members not directly under his control in terms of the OTP organogram;
Titi be hauled before a disciplinary inquiry for her failure to manage the performance of Mbangcolo-Matshikwe; and
Titi be subjected to a training intervention in problem-solving, people management and empowerment.
However, according to the legislature report, Masualle communicated with Mbangcolo-Matshikwe on September 8 last year, he requested her to provide him with a copy of her grievance.
“The petitioner did not hear from the premier since then,” states the report.
At the time Masualle was granted a threemonth extension by the PSC to implement the recommendations after saying he was in the dark about the grievance, but apparently failed to do so until January 18.
This is when Mbangcolodecided to approach the legislature in a bid to force her bosses to implement the PSC recommendations.
Gqobana’s committee found that OTP bosses “did not make any meaningful conflict resolution interventions to resolve the poor working relations between the two”.
They also found that it was wrong for Mbangcolo-Matshikwe to be transferred to the legal unit earlier this year, in a post that was non-existent and where she did not meet requirements.
Gqobana’s committee also raised concern that Masualle only became aware of the grievance between the two, upon receipt of the PSC report.
Titi yesterday refused to comment, while numerous attempts to reach Mbangcolo-Matshikwe, Qwase and director-general Marion MbinaMthembu proved fruitless.
Meanwhile, Titi made headlines recently when she publicly exchanged insults and nearly came to blows with Masualle’s spokesman Sonwabo Mbananga during a Women’s Day event in Lusikisiki.
— asandan@dispatch.