Public Service Commissioner vacancy: Shortlisting of Candidates for interviews

Public Service and Administration

11 November 2014
Chairperson: Ms BP Mabe (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Portfolio Committee met to discuss and shortlist the candidates for the position of the Public Service Commissioner- this shortlist would be invited for interviews by the Portfolio Committee and then would then make its recommendation to the President. The Committee spent the first part of the meeting going through a list of the disqualified candidate and the reasons for disqualification- this related either to qualification or experience. The committee spent 30 minutes then looking through the qualified candidates- each member was tasked with selecting five or the 103 qualified candidates. The members would present their five candidates for interviews. Candidates picked by more than one of the members would therefore also rank higher. From this process the members were able to select four candidate that would automatically be interviews and then scrutinised the table to add two more candidates. The members selected six candidates to be interviews, with 50% female representation. The members discussed the organisation around the format of the interview and the questions
 

Meeting report

Public Service Commission vacancy: Shortlisting of candidates
The Chairperson drew Members' attention to a late applicantion, which was received on the previous day. This had been posted and the reason for accepting it was that there had been a postal strike.

Ms Z Dlamini-Dubazana pointed out that the postal strike was common knowledge and that applicants could also apply through e-mail or fax as well as the post. The candidate should, in her opinion, have utilised these avenues.

Initially the Portfolio Committee Members expressed the view that they should not accept the late application; but later in the meeting the Chairperson asked the Committee Secretary to go through the CV and check if the candidate qualified.

List of Disqualified Candidates: 103 Total Candidates

The Committee, together, went through the list of candidates who were disqualified from the position. The Chairperson noted that most of the candidates were disqualified due to the fact that they did not hold the qualification or degree required specifically in the advertisement. She summarised that it had been said that the position required a degree in Public Administration or similar qualifications or Human Resources qualification.

She noted the risk of people lying about their qualifications and instructed the Committee Content Advisor to undertake a verification of the qualifications of the candidates to be interviewed- and to ask the candidates to bring their certified copies of their qualifications with them.

The Chairperson also noted that the list of disqualified candidates stated nothing about experience, merely looked at the degree qualifications.

Mr Julius Ngoepe, Committee Content Advisor, responded that both areas were looked at but the qualification requirement in line with the advertisement were the first area for disqualification.

Ms Dlamini-Dubazana pointed out that people tended to just apply without having the requisite qualification.

The Committee agreed that ten minutes be set aside to allow each member to look through the list of disqualified candidates, ask any relevant questions and call for copies of the CV if they wished.

Members asked to view copies of the CVs for candidates numbers 14, 40, 42 and 73, to examine further why they were deemed disqualified.

The Content Advisor indicated that those holding an LLB degree were disqualified because this was not one of the four essential qualifications listed in the advertisement. In addition, the current Deputy COmmissioner held that qualification. The Public Service Commission (PSC) was trying  These were candidates that Committee Members had further questions on why they were disqualified.

The advisor pointed out that people who have an LLB (Law degree) were disqualified as it was not one of the four qualifications required by the advert and also because the current Deputy Commissioner had that qualification and the PSC was trying to achieve a balance of the qualifications in the  Commission.

Ms V Mente-Nqweniso (EFF) stated that the Committee needed to look at what type of BCom coupled with LLB people held, pointing out also that those with a qualification in labour relations did well in the public service.

Candidate number 42 did not have the requisite experience. The Chairperson noted that the Committee should perhaps look for opportunities for possible internships to be offered to young graduates, to try to empower new graduates in particular. She asked that the Content Advisor should look at the disqualified candidates, at check how many of them were young and qualified for the internship programme, especially those who were unemployed.

The Committee decided to add two candidates  to the list of qualified candidates, as they had a qualification in industrial psychology, which the Committee felt was equivalent to the Human Resources qualification.

Members, with Ms Dlamini-Dubazana leading on this, encouraged the Committee Researcher to gain more understanding of the different qualifications. One candidate whom the Researcher had initially marked as disqualified had been part of the Harvard Executive Programme, which mades her more than qualified. She disclosed that she did know the candidate.

It was noted that Candidate 78 had a diploma not a degree, and for this reason the Committee decided to look at his experience. However, on this point he was also disqualified, for the advertisement specifically stated that four years' experience was required.

The Chairperson stated that in the future the CVs being presented need to be digitalised. Having checked again with Members whether any disqualifications were due to human error, she suggested that the Committee turn its attention to the candidates deemed qualified in the first instance.

Qualified Candidates for the post of Commissioner Public Service Commission
The Committee members were given a table that tabulated the applicant’s names, gender, degree, a short background, whether they had experience and whether they had had previous experience working with the Public Service Commission.

The Committee decided it would not consider the past experience with the PSC as a qualifying factor as the advert only asked if the candidate had experience with the public service legislation.

Ms Dlamini- Dubazana suggested that each Member should proposed five candidates for short-listing, and said that candidates who were selected by more than one Member should be given prior consideration to those with less nominations. This should short-circuit the process.

 

The Chairperson suggested that when selecting their five candidates, Members should not consider race or gender of the candidates. Afterwards, during the shortlisting, Members would consider race and gender.

Members were then given 45 minutes to go through the table.

The Chairperson asked if there were any candidates with disabilities, and Mr Ngoepe replied that no one indicated a disability on their CV or in their motivational letter.

Members then listed their preferred candidates as follows:

Ms B Mabe (ANC) recommended candidates 130, 170, 143, 75, 33.

Mr M Ntombela (ANC) recommended candidates 154, 143, 99, 33, 101.

Ms Dlamini- Dubazana (ANC) recommended candidates 101, 118, 127, 130, 143.

Ms R Lesoma (ANC) recommended candidates 112, 159, 143, 99, 26

Ms V Mente-Nqweniso (EFF) recommended candidates 7, 90, 127/134 (same person/duplicate application), 143, 112

Mr A Van der Westhuizen (DA) recommended candidates 68, 118, 130, 143, 174
 

After counting, it was summarised that candidate 143 had received five nominations, followed by candidate 130 with three votes, and 99, 33, 134, 118, 112, 101 with two votes each. Candidates 143 and 130 automatically qualified to be invited for an interview. Both candidates were male. The Chairperson thus announced that, in the next consideration, the Committee needed to take cognisance of the need for female representation when selecting the other two interviewees.

Members noted that from the remaining six candidates who were preferred by more than one Member, two were female, and these candidates - Candidates 99 and 33 - were added to the list of interviewees.

Both Ms Lesoma and Ms Mente-Ngwensino said that candidate 99 had extensive qualifications and wondered why she was not working.

The Chairperson stated that the Committee then needed to scrutinise the other candidates and sumarised that all four were male. They were candidates 118, 112, 101, and 134.
 

Mr A van der Westhuizen (DA) wanted to draw the Committee/s attention to candidate 118, who could be considered "a fixer", and who had impressive qualifications. He was a white academic, lecturing at Wits University, who had published widely, and had excellent struggle credentials. He had been called upon in the past to assist the Public Service Commissioners in Johannesburg.

Ms Lesoma and Ms Dlamini-Dubazana agreed that he was an excellent candidate.

Ms Mabe raised concerns about interviewing a white candidate, without having a due intention of employing him, and suggested that this might make him bitter.

Mr van der Westhuizen said  this could make him bitter.

Mr AP Van der Westhuizen (DA) asked the Chairperson if she did not think that this candidate, at an interview, could possibly convince her of his suitability for the position..

Ms Dlamini-Dubuzana said that she believed he could.

The Chairperson then added candidate 118 to the list. This was now a list with three males and two females. She asked that Members now look specifically at the list, with a view to finding  suitable female candidates.

The Committee looked at Candidate number 7, after the Chairperson pointed out should have been mentioned in her list; she had been accidentally omitted, and had also received support from Ms Mente –Ngwensino. She was thus also included in the list.

Mr Ntombela noted that it assisted the Committee to have a pool of possibilities.

The Chairperson asked the Content Advisor how many Commissioners it has the right to appoint.

Mr Ngoepe responded that the Commission had the right to appoint four, during a term of office. The appointments and terms of office were staggered to encourage greater continuity. He was asked to check when the Committee would next be called upon to appoint another commissioner.

The Committee therefore selected six candidates, three male and three female, for interview on the coming Friday:

143, Mr Mthembu, male, black

130, Mr Luthuli, male, black,

99, Ms Thloma, female, black

33, Ms Faruks, female, Indian

181, Mr Fitgerald, male, white

7, Ms Mahaya, female, black.

The Chairperson stated that the interview would take the format of prepared questions to improve organisation - these would cover areas of the Constitution, legislation, the role of the PSC, public service and management.

The Chairperson would work with the team to come up with questions, and the Committee would meet prior to the interviews to check whether the questions covered everything.

Mr van der Westhuizen asked if Committee Members were able to submit questions for consideration and suggested the Committee convene at 9am and schedule the interviews for 9:30. It would then interview three candidates, take a break and then interview the other three. The Committee would interview each candidate for 30 minutes each. Flights home should be booked only after 14:00.

He also relayed his sincere gratitude to the staff for summarising over 200 CVs and thanked them for their hard work, which had given him confidence in them.

Ms V Mente-Nqweniso thanked the team for its job in collating CVs. She  She suggested that when formulating questions, the team should research the Public Service Act - so that questions could be directed to the regulation of the public service, ethics and other integrated issues.

Ms Lesoma agreed with the programme, but suggested the need to build in some extra time to cushion and allow for exploration of issues arising that may need follow-up questions.

Ms Dlamini-Dubazana thanked the Chairperson and staff for the format of this meeting and noted that it was good to have questions from others, but self the Committee must remember that the phrasing of the advertisement itself must be the guideline for all questions, as the interviewees would also be preparing themselves based on the advertisement.

Mr Ntombela also thanked the staff for their work, and suggested that Members should formulate and forward any suggested questions by a set time.

The Chairperson agreed, recapped that the questions should be guided by the wording of the advertisement, and suggested that all questions must be handed to the Committee staff by 10:00 on Thursday. The Committee would allow 30 minutes for each interview but the exact time would be determined by the level of engagement. She thanked all Members for the level of maturity and commitment and agreement they had shown in the meeting.

The Chairperson noted that the late submission referred to at the start of the meeting did not in fact meet the requirements for the position.

She reminded the Members of the scheduled meeting where the Committee would be discussing the position of Director-Generals who had not declared their personal interests.

She reminded the Advisory Team to complete verification of the qualifications of interviewees by the following Tuesday.

The meeting was adjourned.
 

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