3301 Senior Government Managers Without Required Qualifications

By: Zilungile Mkhize

Minister of Public Service and Administration, Senzo Mchunu, has revealed that nearly 35 % of senior managers employed by national and provincial departments do not have the required qualifications for the positions they occupy.

In an answer to a parliamentary question, Mchunu said of the 9477 senior managers listed on government’s Personal and Salary System, 3301 do not have the necessary qualifications.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development have the most unqualified employees, at 227 and 228 are police officers.

Last month President Cyril Ramaphosa said government is working to bring in more qualified people into the system, addressing a Master Class on the Entrepreneurial State and Mission Economy.

He further said the country has to redesign policy in order to approach what government does in a different way.

Meanwhile, DA Leader John Steenhuisen had responded, saying no one has been more central to the deployment of party loyalists to positions in the state over the past decade than President Cyril Ramaphosa.

“He (Ramaphosa) headed up the ANC’s Cadre Deployment Committee from 2014 to 2018, when he took over presidency from Jacob Zuma. During this time some of the very worst appointments were made to our SOEs and public service, and corruption skyrocketed,” said Steenhuisen.