PanSALB: shortlisting of candidates for interviews

Meeting report

Chairperson’s opening remarks
The Chairperson reminded the Committee that they were not only looking only for academics, but were looking for other skills. The last board was problematic because it was made up purely of academics. She noted that all the candidates did not have any political affiliation, and this pleased her.

Ms L Moss (ANC) proposed that the Committee shortlist 40 before the lunch break and then trim to 25 after the break.

Dr H Van Schalkwyk (DA) asked if those without motivation or nominations should be considered for selection.

The Chairperson suggested that they wait for Adv Anthea Gordon to assist them with such legal questions. They should start with those who were nominated and had a motivation.

Mr D Mavunda (ANC) agreed with the Chairperson.

Mr N van der Berg suggested that the Committee go one by one on the list looking through each person to find the best candidates for the board.

The Chairperson seconded this suggestion, but noted that Members had not brought the pile of CVs of the candidates. She added that she had short listed the CVs based on the aspects of Interpreting and translation, Terminology Development, Language and Literacy teaching, Language Planning, Legal Expertise, Financial Management Expertise and Governance experience and expertise.

Ms L Moss raised the issue of candidates that serve on other boards that wanted also to serve on this board. She asked if these people should be considered.

The Chairperson said she would not personally recommend people serving on other boards or those who have served previously on the PANSALB board.

Mr D Mavunda suggested that they consolidate the matter and informally put the Chairperson’s suggestion as a reason for candidates who might want to find out why they were not short listed.

Dr Van Schalkwyk stated that the people who were on the board previously could advice the board on what not to do, but would, by no means, be allowed to serve.

The Chairperson stated that some people, such as Ms Sobahle, could be allowed onto the board.

Mr M Dlamuka (Parliament Content Adviser) took up the issue of board members that serve on other boards, stating that the law did not prohibit this. His proposal was that they look at individual cases and see why the person might not be able to serve on this particular board.

The Chairperson argued that there was currently a crisis in Arts and Culture, where people were serving on various boards and did not have the time to fully serve this board.

Mr Dlamuka reminded the board about the advert and its specifications, particularly the skills of Interpreting and translation, Terminology Development, Language and Literacy teaching, Language Planning, Legal Expertise and Financial Management.

He then divided the candidates into those who had Legal, Financial and Language expertise. This expertise, particularly legal and financial, was important as it would assist the board if there were financial or legal matters. Financial expertise was a scarce skill so when making their decisions, the Committee must consider financial expertise heavily. However, there was also the matter of balancing the 11 South African languages and provincial representation.

The short listing process
Legal expertise
Prof JJ Malan – a professor of Public Law at the University of Pretoria

Mr Dlamuka said Prof Malan had not signed the nomination form but only typed his name. According to the advert, the candidate and nominator must both sign the nomination form, and Mr Dlamuka’s understanding of 'a signature' would be a hand-written signature.

The Committee, after looking at his CV, saw that this did not meet the requirements of the advert, but it was also agreed that the Committee must wait for legal advice.

Mr Dlamuka suggested that the Committee put a note next to each candidate, indicating their status.

Later, the Parliamentary Legal Advisor, Adv Anthea Gordon, stated that 'signature' can take different forms depending on the context of the advertisement. However, in this case, it would be up to the Committee to decide what was eligible as a signature for this purpose.

Mr van der Berg stated that a typed name did not mean that a person shows consent and said that Prof Malan cannot be eligible if it was just a typed a name.

Ms F Mushwana (ANC) argued that the Committee must not entertain the seemingly ambiguous definition of what a signature entails, whereas people know what a signature entails.

The Chairperson corrected Ms Mushwana by stating that they were trying to understand what would qualify or not qualify as a signature.

Adv A Gordon entered the conversation again, after reading the nomination letter that was submitted by Prof Malan, which did not have a handwritten signature but clearly stated that he “accepts the nomination.” From this illustration, Adv A Gordon stated that this indeed could be accepted as a signature, reminding the Committee that signature differs in context, because in some cases, a signature can be a thumb print, an X for those who were illiterate and even one’s hand-written or typed name.

The Chairperson added that her own grandmother was illiterate and signs with X. The letters that were circulated in the House of Parliament were also not signed.  Such matters must be consulted in terms of legality so that there can be accountability as to why certain people were not short listed. The Committee would be the one to go to the candidates who had not been selected and tell them.

Ms T Nwamitwa-Shilubana wanted to know from Adv Gordon if the illiterate grandmother’s X was legal to use as a signature

Ms Singh – an Indian appointed attorney who has worked in governmental initiatives and the public sector.

The Chairperson said the selection must not go according to race.

Adv TC Maake – an Advocate who was an admitted advocate of the High Court.

The Chairperson stated that Adv TC Maake might be good, although he might be too busy to serve on this board.

Mr MA Zwane – an attorney with a legal background who was currently an appointed Caretaker CEO and Chairperson of the National Heritage Council.

Mr Dlamuka was concerned that as a chairperson elsewhere, he might have a conflict of interest. The Chairperson reminded the Committee that Mr Zwane’s case was no different to Adv Maake’s case, and the Committee merely feared that he was too busy.

Adv LK Ramadi-Adebola –an LLM graduate on Human Rights and Constitutional Practice

Prof J Mahanqwa – a traditional Chief who holds a LLM from Wayne State University (USA)   

Adv MM Malebye – and advocate with a legal background specializing on Labour Relations

Mr MJ Mahoto – a practicing attorney

Those who were considered under Legal were;
Adv TC Maake
Mr MJ Mahoto
Prof JJ Malan
Ms S Singh
Mr MA Zwane
Adv Ramadi-Adebola
Adv MM Malebye

The short listed candidates for interview under Legal were;
Mr MJ Mahoto
Prof JJ Malan
Ms S Singh
Adv Ramadi-Adebola
Mr MA Zwane

Financial Expertise
Mr J Blose – the only candidate with a disability (deaf) had an academic background in Accounting

Ms S Mkhize – a Chartered Accountant

Mr V Ngcobo – Bcom graduate, business developer with a marketing and communication background.

The members raised the question that this qualification may not fully meet the “Financial Expertise” mandate.

Ms TL Shipalana – a Chief Director in the Eastern Cape provincial government

Dr PH Nkuna – had a D.Litt in the languages field coupled with an MBA and certificate in Law.

The concern from the Chairperson was that Ms Shipalana already worked for government and as such there was again a conflict of interest.

Mr Dlamuka reminded the members that there was no law that prohibited this and that Members should rather look at other aspects.

According to the Chairperson, practically, a public servant might not be available sometimes.

Mr van der Berg added that if this person worked for the state already, perhaps they could serve on the PanSALB board for free.

Ms N Levin – had extensive management experience in the public and private sector which included consultancy work.

Ms Mushwana felt that the Members were no longer considering whether the signatures were signed, stating that there must be consistency in the short listing process.

The Chairperson corrected Ms Mushwana by saying that there had been consistency throughout. Mr Mavunda seconded the Chairperson by stating that the signature has been the first criteria that was considered.

The Chairperson said one of the things that one must consider was that some candidates apply for these positions not because they want to serve fully on this board, but for the status and the money.  

Those who were considered under Finance were;
Mr J Blose
Ms S Mkhize
Dr PH Nkuna

Those who were short listed for interviews under Finance were:
Mr J Blose
Ms S Mkhize
Dr PH Nkuna

Linguistic Expertise
Ms PS Sobahle – had served on the board of the PANSALB and had resigned in 2012

The Chairperson stated that this was the candidate who resigned because she felt that the PanSALB board was not following the mandate of  the Portfolio Committee of Arts and Culture.

Mr SM Mtshweni – assistant Director responsible for Language Practice.

Dr PM Sebate – an associate professor of Educational Studies at UNISA.

Prof SE Ngubane – former PanSALB chairperson of the board which was dissolved by the Minister.

The Chairperson pointed out that the board had failed under Prof Ngubane's management.

Mr van der Berg stated that if there occurred a need for the Committee to answer why they had not selected him, they would state that he failed the first time and they did not trust him.

Mr BJ Skhosana – an employee of Parliament in the language unit.

Mr van der Berg stated that although the Committee wanted to do away with state employees, Mr Skhosana seemed like an appropriate candidate in terms of linguistics and the fact that he was Ndebele.

The Chairperson endorsed this.

Mr STE Ntshembeni – an educator who has served on the financial language body.

Mr PA Phindane – a lecturer at the Central University of Technology

Mr RC White – an educator specializing in English language and an executive council member of the Griqua National Conference of South Africa.

Mrs M Arries – has a background in language literacy.

Dr AS Mpisi – a researcher with a strong academic background.

Mr PDK Makhudu – a Masters graduate in Applied Linguistics from the Southern Illinois University (USA).

Prof MAB Nyamende – an associate professor of African languages at the University of Cape Town.

Dr MK Ralarala – has worked as a director of the CRL and was currently employed by CPUT as an Institutional Language Coordinator.

Prof WAM Carstens  - has a D.Litt in Afrikaans and extensive experience in the field of teaching.

The Chairperson said she was impressed by Prof Carstens and would recommend him.

Mr van der Berg endorsed this statement and said that he knew Prof Carstens to be very passionate about the development of languages, not just Afrikaans, but all South African languages.

Dr Z Jama – has teaching experience and has served on the Xhosa Dictionary Project.

The Chairperson stated that the fact that he has served on the Dictionary project made him an appropriate candidate for this board because this was one of the skills that was needed in linguistics.

Mr CT Masebolia – has an experience in the language teaching department.

Mr XE Mabaso – has a teaching and translation and has served on several bodies that were responsible for the promotion of Xitsonga.

Mrs Y Malindi – employed by the City of Tshwane as a language practitioner and has a post-graduate qualification in linguistics.

Dr HS Theys – has a PHD in the literature and teaches languages at the CPUT.

Dr KP Prinsloo – a retired scholar who specializes in linguistics.

Dr M Alberts – once employed at the PanSALB as a Director: Terminology Development.

This candidate was also recommended particularly because of the institutional knowledge.

Mrs HN Mgwenya – an Honors degree graduate in IsiZulu and served as an educator and on provincial languages structures in Mpumalanga.

Mrs CM Mayevu – Head of Department Translational Studies Linguistics and Interpreting at the University of Limpopo.

Prof M Madiba – has a D.Litt in Linguistics and has been involved in multiple projects that deal with linguistics and language policy in South Africa.

Mr CHL Manana – a BA Honors Degree graduate in African Languages and has a teaching experience.

Dr GA Malindzisa – a writer of numerous SiSwati dramas with a D.Litt.

Mr TJ Nemutanzhe – has a teaching background and extensive publishing background in the field of languages.

Mr N Mutsila – with a teaching and lecturing experience and has worked as translator for the media sector.


Mr GM Isaka  - a senior translator at the Northern Cape Provincial year diploma in legal interpreting.

Mr TP Ntuli – has an M. Phil in Translation.

Those who were considered under Linguistics were;

Ms PS Sobahle  
Mr SM Mtshweni
Dr PM Sebate
Mr BJ Skhosana
Dr PA Phindane
Mr RC White
Mrs M Arries
Mr PDK Makhudu
Prof MAB Nyamende
Dr MK Ralarala
Prof WAM Carstens
Dr Z Jama
Dr HS Theys
Dr KP Prinsloo
Dr J Van Wyk
Dr M Alberts
Mrs HN Mgwenya
Mrs CM Mayevu
Prof M Madiba
Dr GA Malindzisa
Mr TJ Nemutanzhela
Mr GM Isaka

The short listed candidates for interviews under Linguistics were;
Ms PS Sobahle
Mr BJ Skhosana
Dr PA Phindane
Mr RC White
Mrs M Arries
Mr PDK Makhudu
Prof MAB Nyamende
Dr MK Ralarala
Prof WAM Carstens
Dr Z Jama
Dr HS Theys
Dr M Alberts
Mrs HN Mgwenya
Mrs CM Mayevu
Prof M Madiba
Dr GA Malindzisa
Mr TJ Nemutanzhela
Mr GM Isaka
Dr PK Prinsloo (replaced by Mrs. N Levin)

For the final selection process, Mr van der Berg suggested that the Committee take a pool of votes from each member, but the Chairperson said that she wanted the board to all agree on whether to shortlist certain people and reasons for that.

For the final selection process, Mr Dlamuka read out the MPs' comments made earlier about each candidate which he had recorded.

The Committee occasionally raised matters of language representation, gender and the scores that Mr Dlamuka had outlined for each candidate. The findings from Mr Dlamuka were that out of the 25 candidate, there were 18 males and eight females and that there was not a balanced representation of all eleven official languages of South Africa.

Mr Mavunda raised the issue of the scores that Mr Dlamuka had set out for the selection of this board.

The Chairperson argued that language was not necessarily represented by one who speaks the language, reminding the board that the previous board was representative of all South African languages but was inefficient because it was also selected on that basis.

The Chairperson added that the scoring method was there to guide them but not for the selection process because it was about the score one had and not about experience. The board needed people with appropriate experience.

Dr Van Schalkwyk raised the scarcity of candidates with Governmental and Management expertise on the list, pointing out that Mrs N Levin had appropriate expertise.

The Chairperson felt that she should be short listed due to the fact that she was a woman (adding to the list of women) and had those skills.   

The Committee then deliberated on who to remove in order to add Mrs N Levin.

Mr Mavunda suggested that they should remove Dr Prinsloo.

Mr van der Berg, having suggested that they keep Dr Prinsloo, assured the Committee that if he needed to be removed, he should be removed.

A vote was taken on whether to remove him and the democratic vote agreed that he should be removed.

Those who were not eligible for this post were:
Mr MS Mtshali – works as a Deputy Director of an IT Division
Mr J Tshipa – has a diploma in Electoral Engineering and Business Administration.
Mr TC Khorommbi – an audio visual/production technician at SABC who had not worked in any language field.

Those with nominations not signed were;
Prof IS Perumal
Ms NA Malobola
Mr SS Faku
Mr T Nkosi
Mr KP Madlwabiga
Ms S Luswazi
Mr M Jadezweni
Mrs MB Ramothapo
Mr MM Nyama
Ms N Naidoo
Ms JS Mashilwane
Ms JL Maunye
Mr MS Mtshali
Mr SS Baloyi
Mr PR Maphophe
Mrs M Ndlovu

The 25 candidates for interviews during 30 April  – 03 May 2013 are;
Mr J Blose
Ms S Mkhize
Dr PH Nkuna
Mr MJ Mahoto
Prof JJ Malan
Ms S Singh
Adv Ramadi-Adebola
Mr MA Zwane
Ms PS Sobahle
Mr BJ Skhosana
Dr PA Phindane
Mr RC White
Mrs M Arries
Mr PDK Makhudu
Prof MAB Nyamende
Prof WAM Carstens
Dr Z Jama
Dr HS Theys
Dr M Alberts
Mrs CM Mayevu
Prof M Madiba
Dr GA Malindzisa
Mr TJ Nemutanzhela
Mr GM Isaka
Mrs. N Levin

The Chairperson wanted to get clarity about what would happen if some of the 25 candidates were not available.

Adv Gordon, Mr Mavunda and Ms Mushwana agreed that if a candidate should not be available for an interview, then unfortunately they had missed the opportunity but the Committee must not replace those not available with others who were not selected in the first place.

The Chairperson said that she was concerned that this would deprive others who may have been available for interviews, but the Committee members maintained that if a candidate was not available, the Committee members would have still stuck to the guideline of ‘not more than 25 candidates’.

The Chairperson closed by reminding Members that the interview process would begin on 30 April.

With regards to the questions for the interviews, the Committee scheduled to meet on the 23 April 2013 to discuss the questions.

The Chairperson added that Members must not forget the Department Budget Vote debate on 16 May 2013.

However, Ms L Moss was concerned about who was the sponsor for that event. Public representatives, such as the Arts and Culture Portfolio Committee, should be careful when it came to such events. Noting that some of the money that the Department used to host Members of Parliament was the money that should actually go to artists. Ms Moss stated that artists were poor. The department budget must be used appropriately.

The Chairperson agreed, noting that the 2012 event was hosted by SAMRO (Southern African Music Rights Organisation) and she had a lot of questions about the money spent to host that event.

The interviews would begin on the 30-April-2013.