Who really employed Mathokgwane?
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday June 5, 2015 18:03
Mmegi has leant that before the controversial appointment, there was no such position at SPEDU hence some important stakeholders such as the Board are in the dark about his appointment.
Mathokgwane last week resigned his Parliament seat to take up the executive position at SPEDU. This week sources said everything about the appointment remains shrouded in secrecy and illegality.
The position was advertised in the Daily News dated May 13, 2015, without the knowledge of the Board, sources have said. In the job summary the incumbent would establish and oversee the SPEDU regional offices, stakeholder liaison and regional project monitoring. The regions under the SPEDU mandate are Selebi-Phikwe, Bobirwa, Tswapong North and Mmadinare.
The main responsibilities will include setting up and operationalising regional offices, community liaison, formation of enterprise clusters, project and implementation in the various regions under SPEDU, as well as identifying opportunities and resolving challenges associated with SPEDU projects. “The successful candidate will also be responsible for generating employment opportunities in the SPEDU regions through viable commercial projects. Furthermore, the incumbent will be responsible for the sustainability and growth of the identified projects,” reads the advertisement.
The position required a Degree in Social Sciences or related qualifications and a minimum of 10 years post qualification experience, three of which must have been at managerial level. The successful candidate will have a thorough knowledge of planning, stakeholders’ liaison, community development and involvement, as well as project implementation.
“He/she will demonstrate a high level of resilience, strategic orientation, tenacity and output orientation. He/she will also demonstrate superior leadership and team building skills, and strong interpersonal skills.” The closing date of the job was May 22, 2015 and Mathokgwane was hired on May 27.
At least three sources that Mmegi talked to alleged that there was no position of director of regional operations in the newly established organisational structure of SPEDU. They all concurred that when the new SPEDU chief executive officer, Mokubung Mokubung, was appointed in April this year he found a new structure in place.
“The CEO cannot claim that this position was advertised in the media. There are only three positions of director in the organisational structure and director of regional operations is not one of them,” said a source with knowledge of SPEDU operations.
The positions of directors in the structure are projects and programmes, research and innovation, and corporate services. “The directors of projects and programmes and research and innovation were interviewed in March after their positions were advertised in the media in February. The two directors commenced their work in April,” said the source. All the directors supervise departments under them and report directly to the CEO. Another source said the appointment might have been done at a ministerial level. The job that Mathokgwane has been hired to perform has been the domain of the public relations and communications manager, said SPEDU insiders.
“The public relations and communications manager is the person who has been managing the outreach programmes including the mobilisations of the community. That is the job that we are being told that Mathokgwane will be doing.”
When approached for comment this week the Minister of Trade and Industry, Vincent Seretse said that he did not know the details of the appointment of Mathokgwane. The minister referred inquiries to SPEDU officials for comment.
Mokubung could not be reached for comment. He was said to be out of the country. The SPEDU board chairperson Daniel Mahupela also could not be reached for comment. He was dropping his phone when reached for comment. He later sent a Short Message Service (SMS) saying he was in a meeting. Mahupela did not respond to the SMS questions sent to him. Mathokgwane on his part said that he applied for the position and was successful.