Times Of Swaziland: CABINET COMMITTEE APPROVES CEO WHO ‘DOESN’T UNDERSTAND’ ESTVA

CABINET COMMITTEE APPROVES CEO WHO ‘DOESN’T UNDERSTAND’ ESTVA
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Mfanukhona Nkambule on 21/08/2022 14:59:00


MBABANE – He might have not impressed the consultants engaged to recruit a CEO
for Eswatini Television Authority (ESTVA), but the Ministry of ICT likes him.
A senior government official who could not differentiate whether ESTVA was a
public or national broadcaster might assume the position of Chief Executive
Officer CEO on an acting basis. This is what the consultants hired by ESTVA
Board to recruit the CEO said about the officer who is set for secondment:
“His profile reveals that he has been a Board member of ESTVA recently. During
the interviews, he could not bring the advantages of having been involved with
ESTVA at strategic level to bear. For instance, in his presentation, he could
not clearly differentiate whether ESTVA is a public or a national
broadcaster.”
worrying factor
The consultants added: “This is a worrying factor because he appears not to
have a full understanding of the mandate and strategic placement of the
Authority (ESTVA). Despite that he has been involved at Board and director
level; he insisted that ESTVA is a national broadcaster.” The Broadcasting
Bill, if passed by Parliament and assented to by His Majesty the King, will then
transform ESTVA into a national broadcaster. It has since been established that
the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology has recommended to the
Standing Committee on Public Enterprises (SCOPE) for the secondment of the said
officer to ESTVA. His name is being withheld to protect him from potential
public ridicule. Highly classified information reveals that he had been
earmarked for a three-year secondment, to which SCOPE objected. It only approved
of a period not exceeding six months – not three years as this period was
given to substantive CEOs.
When SCOPE reportedly enquired about the officer’s perceived conflict of
interest, as he was one of the candidates who applied for the vacant post of
ESTVA CEO, the ministry is said to have responded that he was no longer
interested in this position. It is said that they assured the committee that one
of the main duties of the officer entailed facilitating the recruitment of the
substantive CEO.
highly contested
The highly contested ESTVA CEO post is expected to form part of the Cabinet
agenda on Tuesday. This was revealed by well placed sources, who were monitoring
the issue very closely.
The issue of ESTVA has been a thorny one since the retirement of the late
Bongani ‘Gcokosiyancinca’ Dlamini on January 31, 2021. As a matter of fact,
the post of ESTVA CEO has been attracting controversies since the days of the
late Dan Dlamini in the early 1990s. Celani Ndzimandze took over, but his
contract was terminated on February 25, 2005 after a lot of infighting at ESTVA.
At some point, the late Sabelo Masuku acted as the CEO, and his term was
short-lived, as he faced numerous challenges there. Vukani Maziya’s tenure was
not a rosy one as his confirmation was not approved by the late Sibusiso
Barnabas Dlamini’s administration, despite the fact that he had passed the
interview with flying colours.
eventually endorsed
It was the administration of former Prime Minister Absalom Themba Dlamini, which
eventually endorsed the consultancy’s recommendation for the appointment of
Maziya. His first assignment was a tough one as he had to deal with the then
Director of Outside Broadcasting Unit (OB), Qhawe Mamba, who was employed by
ESTVA, yet was also operating a private television station, Channel Swazi, now
known as YemaSwati Channel. He created enemies for removing Mamba from ESTVA. He
died in July 2010, while still holding the position of ESTVA CEO.
‘Gcokosiyancinca’s tenure of officer as the CEO met resistance as he had to
offload staff that earned high salaries. He created enemies for declaring
certain positions as redundant. For what he did, there were former employees who
shunned the jurisdiction and competence of the Industrial Court and Conciliation
Mediation and Arbitration Commission (CMAC) in preference of the Ludzidzini
Royal Council, which had been hearing their grievances.
Vusigama Khumalo came in, to act as the CEO during the suspension of
‘Gcokosiyancinca’. It was not long before he faced challenges.
Gcokosiyancinca bounced back, and Khumalo had to vacate the office. Since the
retirement and unfortunate death of the former CEO, the public enterprise has
been without a substantive CEO. It must be said that Kenneth Maziya has been
acting as the CEO of ESTVA for 18 months. During the recent interviews for the
post of CEO, Maziya became No.1. Consultants recommended for his appointment as
the CEO of ESTVA. Princess Sikhanyiso, the Minister of ICT, did not endorse the
recommendation.
Legal challenge
It must be said that the ESTVA Human Resource Policy, which is aligned to the
Government General Orders, provides that an officer should not act for six
months. For over six months, the policy states that the officer must be
confirmed to the position. In the case of Maziya, investigations revealed that
his contract was terminated before the lapsing of the six-month period. He would
take a two-day break before he received another letter of appointment. This
happened for a period of 18 months. Sipho Gumedze, a seasoned attorney, said the
two-day break might work against Maziya. “They were clever enough to dribble
the officer you are talking about. He may not have a case if he were to sue,”
he said. Another attorney, preferring to address the issue on condition of
anonymity, said the two-day breaks were meaningless because the acting occurred
continuously. This was confirmed by a labour officer who pointed out that the
appointing agency (Ministry of ICT) should have allowed two or more officers to
hold the positions in turns.
He said allowing Maziya to hold the position for almost two years could work
against ESTVA Board and Ministry of ICT. “Maziya can have strong points to win
the case if he takes it to court,” said the labour officer. Mncedisi Mayisela,
the ESTVA Corporate Affairs Manager, declined to comment on the matter. Maziya
said he was also not in a position to say anything about it.
involved in the decision
Asked if he was involved in the decision to ask for the secondment, Prince
Sicunusa, the Chairman of the ESTVA Board, said he was not part of that
resolution. “It’s very important to do things after consultations. If it’s
true that there is a secondment, I am not aware of it because I was not
consulted and I did not have any input,” he said. He said he would be expected
to prepare a contract for the seconded acting CEO, yet he was not involved in
the identification of the candidate to hold the position on an acting basis. The
chairman was asked why the Board did not advise the minister that Maziya’s
continuous acting could pose a legal challenge to both ESTVA and government. He
said he thought the minister would confirm Maziya as the substantive CEO. The
prince who doubles as a chief of Mgazini in Mankayane mentioned that he had not
received reasons from the ministry for not endorsing the consultancy’s
recommendation on the appointment of Maziya.
He pointed out that he was informed about the reasons for declining the
appointment of Mncedisi Mayisela, as he was subject of a select committee
appointed by the House of Assembly.
However, Justices John Magagula, Cyril Maphanga and Nkosinathi Maseko ruled
that: “The report, findings and recommendations of the House of Assembly’s
Eswatini Television Authority Parliament Select Committee are hereby declared
null and void.” The judges further said: “The 3rd respondent is hereby
interdicted and restrained from acting on the findings and recommendations of
the Eswatini Television Parliament Probe Select Committee.” Sources told Times
SUNDAY that Cabinet had appealed against factoring in the report of the select
committee as they went back to carry out a second recruitment exercise.
Phesheya Dube, the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of ICT, said he was
not allowed to talk about the issue of secondment because it was a confidential
one. Dube had also applied for the position of ESTVA CEO before he was appointed
into the PS position. Section 8 (1) of the Public Enterprise Act, 1989, provides
that the Board, which is referred to as the governing body, is responsible for
the nomination of the CEO. It reads: “Except in the case of the University of
Swaziland (Eswatini), the governing body of each category A Public Enterprise
shall nominate the chief executive officer who shall be appointed, or who may be
dismissed by the minister responsible acting in consultation with the Standing
Committee.”
scored high
In the second recruitment exercise conducted by SAMKHO, Mncedisi Mayisela and
Kennth Maziya scored high, as they both attained 83.3 per cent. SAMKHO stated
that if Maziya was not appointed, Mayisela should be considered for the job or
alternatively Phesheya Dube. The final interview results produced by SAMKHO were
as follows –
*Kenneth Maziya – 83.3 per cent;
*Mncedisi Mayisela – 83.3 per cent;
*Phesheya Dube – 64.6 per cent;
*Titus Mavimbela – 46.7 per cent.
According to the advert released by ESTVA, the suitable candidate for the CEO
post should possess the following –
*The CEO should be a dynamic leader who will be responsible for the overall
strategic direction and transformation of the organisation towards international
standards.
* The suitable candidate will also be responsible for the development and
implementation of the strategic plan in line with the industry best practices.
*The candidate should ensure policy development and decision-making support to
the Board and provide secretariat and advisory service to the board;
*The suitable candidate should have a combination of qualifications, skills, and
experience deemed to be essential for satisfactory performance in the position.
*The candidate should be a holder of a Masters in Business Administration (MBA)
or Business Management or equivalent, with a minimum of 10 years experience
working as a member of executive management.
*The candidate should have good knowledge of the film and television industry.
It was stated in the advert that the appointment of the CEO would be subject to
verifications, psychometric assessments and reference checks. It was also stated
that correspondence would be limited to shortlisted candidates.