Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape (used to be Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch) admits its employment equity targets are not being met. The city’s electronic Metro Minutes newsletter quotes the city’s Human Resources and Corporate Administration Directorate who says as far as top management in the city is concerned – the municipal managers, executive directors and directors – the projected complement is 76 of which 50% should be African, 22% white, 17% coloured and 10% Indian, with 54% of the 76 positions filled by women and 12% by people with disabilities. The current status, however, is that only 43 of the positions are filled.
As far as middle management is concerned, 62 of the 338 projected positions are vacant.
It seems posts are left vacant because competent affirmative actions candidates cannot be found. In the mean time services in the city is going for the dogs.
In a report to the Human Resources and Corporate Administration Committee, the directorate says some vacancies have not beenfilled at the level of director, middle management and operational while people with disabilities seldom respond to advertisements even though they are encouraged to apply. The report states that there has been “a high level of deviations” during the se-lection process to the extent that it has been necessary to develop “deviation criteria,” which encompass areas such as critical or scarce skills positions and the nature of the job.
In addition, it states, where employees have been serving in an acting capacity and are filling a position on a temporary basis, he or she will enjoy preference when the position is advertised. The report says there have also been administrative challenges in the implementation of employment equity, one of which is the fact that the office dealing with the issue is under-staffed and has remained so despite various Council resolutions recommending the employment of additional staff and requests to the critical vacancies committee.
Siestog, shame, foeitog…
