Chancers face the chop

Thirty-six senior municipal managers, whose academic qualifications are not in line with their job requirements, are on the verge of losing their posts.

The municipal managers of Nelson Mandela Bay, in Eastern Cape, and Ntambanana, in KwaZulu-Natal, have already been axed.

The decisions on four municipal managers and a chief financial officer are pending in court. The municipal managers are from Merafong (Gauteng), Mogalakwena (Limpopo), Ga-Segonyana (Northern Cape) and Matzikama (Western Cape). The CFO is from Namakhoi (Northern Cape).

Of the 278 municipalities in the country, only 42 municipal managers and 15 CFOs have a doctorate or a masters degree.

Thirty-six municipal managers and 21 CFOs hold honours degrees, and 70 municipal managers and 86 CFOs have bachelor's degrees.

The contracts of technical services directors in Imbabazane, Emnambithi and Msinga (KwaZulu-Natal), and Victor Khanye (Mpumalanga) municipalities have been nullified.

Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Pravin Gordhan last week called for unqualified senior municipal managers to be fired.

"We are asking provinces, make sure that people who occupy these positions are dismissed, and that the right kinds of people are appointed," he said on Friday.

According to the Municipal Systems Act, municipal managers and CFOs must have the required skills and qualifications before being appointed. The law came into effect in January last year.

The spokesman for the SA Local Government Association, Karen Reyneke, said the association offered leadership development training to empower councillors and officials, and a senior managers' induction programme.

The training will take place at the association's Centre for Leadership and Governance from the end of this month.

"The Treasury is offering post-matric senior manager development programmes and municipalities are encouraged to make funding available for post-matric studies for their officials."