The vice chancellor and chief financial officer of the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein have come under fire for overlooking two adequately qualified individuals for managerial positions.
It emerged in the higher education portfolio committee which sat early this week that a well-qualified South African woman and a coloured man were not given the managerial positions. The coloured man has more qualifications than his own white boss at the institution.
Professor Noluntu Mpekoa applied for position of dean of faculty of engineering, both environment and information technology. However, a foreign national who was already working at the university was granted the position.
Over-qualified citizen overlooked in favour of a foreign national
Mpekoa holds a PhD, MTech, and BTech in information technology. She applied to be dean in 2024.
Patriotic Alliance MP Ashley Sauls uncovered this information during the sitting.
“Very brilliant black South African female in this country,” said Sauls.
Professor Pamela Dube, CUT vice-chancellor and principal, confirmed the application. She added that Mpekoa fulfilled the minimum requirements, was shortlisted, and called for an interview.
Dube was questioned whether being dean of faculty was a scarce skill. Whether the university had to rather consider an internal foreign national. And this she could not confirm.
“In this case it is not a scarce skill because you have someone who is qualified to fill the position, a South African. A foreign national was given this position over and above this person,” said Sauls.
Institution urged to take accountability
He further argued that the institution should rather take accountability and not explain things away. Sauls believes there is no good enough reason that will clarify why a foreign national was preferred over a qualified South African.
“And whether you believe it, or like it or not, CUT appears to be favouring foreign nationals above South Africans. Even if they are qualified. And that is what that same stat in that faculty speaks to,” said Sauls.
“This highly qualified South African has been disadvantaged intentionally. So and according to our laws, she should have been the person. This is not preference; don’t know her, we just did research,” he added.
Education department in the dark about appointment
The Department of Higher Education claimed they did not approve the appointment of the foreign national. The institution was supposed to write to them to update the person’s Visa status. However, they have not had any such communication with the institution.
Dube also admitted to not writing to the department to give an update on the appointment.
This faculty has shown to have 15% foreign national employees. But coloured males and Indian females make up 1.6% and 1%, respectively. No coloured or Indian females are employed at the faculty.
Dube argued that the common cause for these numbers was based on the skills. She also stated the internationalisation plan and the readiness to work within the university.
“It is really the pool that we are recruiting from. We do not dismiss our internationalisation policy and the targets there,” said Dube.
Less qualified white male
Milingoni Nemutshili, CUT chief financial officer (CFO), was accused of overlooking a qualified internal candidate, Kiernan Jacobs, who is an assistant treasury accountant, for the position of manager of financial reporting.
Nemutshili allegedly extended a consulting contract for white male Kobus Fourie. He was later permanently employed as a manager of financial reporting.
Nemutshili said Jacobs is a recently qualified chartered accountant. He has a masters of business administration and bachelor of commerce degrees. However, he added that he was not appointed manager because he believes he lacks technical skills for the position.
Sauls argued that Jacobs held more qualifications than both Nemutshili and Fourie. He highlighted that even the CFO is not a chartered accountant but a professional accountant. This would mean he needs to write an exam to become a chartered accountant.
Various flaws in appointment of candidates identified
“Mr Jacobs, a coloured South African male, is a treasury accounting assistant. He has applied for this position of manager. The institution employed someone who was initially outsourced and contracted as a consultant, a white male,” said Sauls.
“CFO, you have in your department a highly qualified person who was, and still is, hired by your institution. A consultant that you brought in and extended his contract, you … appointed as a manager. This coloured man is overqualified and he is an assistant treasury accountant. That to me cannot be explained, it is wrong,” he added.
He emphasised that Jacobs deserved more. But he has not been promoted ever since, and was declined when he applied for a higher position.
