Sol Plaatje municipal manager Thapelo Matlala said that local economic development manager Phetolo Sithole was suspended for the irregular appointment of the tourism manager following a leaked audio recording that went viral.
SOL PLAATJE municipal manager Thapelo Matlala said that local economic development manager Phetolo Sithole was suspended for the irregular appointment of the tourism manager following a leaked audio recording that went viral.
The DA submitted a motion this week requesting reasons for his suspension, while councillors stated that they were kept in the dark over the suspension of municipal officials.
Both Sithole and the tourism manager, Neo Poolo, were placed on three months suspension on April 24 with full pay and benefits.
Sithole was reinstated during a special council meeting this week as the acting executive director of infrastructure and services, with immediate effect.
Opposition parties walked out of the council meeting on Wednesday after the Speaker refused to indicate whether Sithole’s reinstatement was a council resolution, while the ANC and GOOD remained in chambers.
In the audio recording that was taped during a grievance hearing, Sithole stated that he had known the appointed tourism manager since 1992 as he was married to her friend and admits that she did not possess the required qualifications for the post.
“It is not the first time that I am working with her. Neo used to work for a company when I used to work with her husband at Eskom. I left and joined Bigen Africa under the maintenance system technology. In that company I spoke with the husband and we gave her work. She started working as a consultant. Trust me, Neo was never disrespectful, she knew she was doing work to assist us, there were no problems.”
He can be heard saying that when the tourism manager position became vacant he saw it fit to empower and develop women, where he was expected to meet a 33 percent target to fill senior positions with women.
“Let me be straightforward, she did not qualify for this position, at all. If you want a person, you do whatever you need to do to hire her; we made sure her curriculum vitae was done in the required manner. Thereafter we spoke to a tourism company, through her husband, in the North West, where she worked as a manager. Thereafter I had pre-interviews.
“You know, it is painful when the person has no clue what tourism is. We were hand-holding the person until she was able to know tourism. Since that incident, Sithole is being called disrespectful.”
In correspondence to council, Sithole explained that the investigation into the appointment of the tourism manager was conducted in November 2022, although he was not given access to the recommendations.
It was indicated that all due processes were followed in appointing the tourism manager and that she was capable of completing the functions of the portfolio.
It is claimed that he was threatened that should he accept the position of acting executive director, he would be charged for the irregular appointment.
“I intend to explain the issue of tourism managers to a full council,” he stated in a report.
He claimed that the audio was taken out of context.
Matlala stated that Sithole was placed on suspension for unduly assisting applicants, namely Neo Poolo and Mr C Bosman, by offering them advice and providing them with the questions that would be posed during interviews.
He indicated that according to the recommendations of an independent investigation into the appointment, charges of serious misconduct as well as criminal charges should be brought against both Sithole and Poolo.
“Sithole was suspended in his capacity as the local economic development manager and not as the acting director of infrastructure and services. He was not suspended for being a whistle-blower.”
He added that it was the nature of his job to meet with business persons and to intervene when service providers were not paid.
“My interactions with business persons are purely professional. No company is receiving any preferential procurement. Tenders are awarded based on the ability of a service provider to do the job and their scoring.”
Matlala denied ever harassing or intimidating any official and added that he paid for all his expenses including the salary of his personal security guard.
“I am here to do my job and to implement consequence management.”
