The appointment of a Western Cape municipal manager has been set aside after he scored basic marks for his leadership competency assessment test.
Mnyamezeli Penxa, the former acting municipal manager of Beaufort West, who was also interested in the position, challenged the appointment of Central Karoo district municipal manager Mzingisi Nkungwana.
On Wednesday, the Cape Town High Court set aside Nkungwana’s appointment.
According to Penxa, he had performed better than the other two interviewees on the municipal leadership competency assessment.
Judge Daniel Thulare stated in his judgment that Penxa achieved the “competent” level on all eight competency proficiency matrix assessments, while Nkungwana only achieved the status on four and was “basic” on the rest.
While the results may show Penxa to be a better candidate, it was still considered that Nkungwana also met the requirements for the appointment.
According to the assessment, Nkungwana would not perform at his best under pressure and might be simple prey for those with more authority than him or a higher position.
Overall achievement level of basic
The executive report by the assessors also found that he was a person who likes to stick to project deadlines and might complete projects to a high standard but would often require assistance in decision-making.
“There is no doubt that Nkungwana has the essential facts and knows the foundation principles of local government operations as well as its concepts and methods,” said Thulare in his judgment.
“It comes as no surprise that he scored an overall achievement level of ‘basic’. Nkungwana is not out of the ordinary. He is midway between the extremes of ‘incompetent’ and ‘competent’.”
Nkungwana achieving the “basic” level meant that he needed guidance in more complex situations for better performance instead of implementing problem-solving strategies himself.
He said the arguments brought forth by the municipality, executive mayor Johanna Botha, and speaker Liezel Paulse, among others, that the “basic” level was sufficient was not enough as people who need supervision and development intervention are unsuitable for municipal manager positions.
Appointment set aside
“I am not persuaded that this court should usurp the function of the municipal council as envisaged in Regulation 12 to appoint a selection panel to make recommendations for the appointment of candidates for the vacant position of municipal manager or its function as envisaged in Regulation 17 to decide on an appointment.
“Even in circumstances like the present, where the council failed in its duty to satisfy itself that Nkungwana met the relevant competency requirements for the position as set out in Annexure A specifically,” reads the judgment.
The judge ordered that the municipality’s decision to appoint Nkungwana as municipal manager without the qualifying competencies be reviewed and set aside.
“The process of the selection leading up to and including the decision to appoint a municipal manager is remitted back to the Central Karoo district municipality council.”
