Mbambisa candidate rejected

AN attempt by Nelson Mandela Bay city manager Mpilo Mbambisa to appoint an under-qualified former councillor into a lucrative senior manager position was shot down when the ANC caucus questioned his qualifications.

Mbambisa's confidential report to the council, which met on Thursday, recommended that the municipality's physical cluster coordinator, Sicelo Mnyaka, be appointed as acting executive director of the special programmes department.

The political head of corporate services, councillor Wandisile Jikeka, is said to have raised concerns that Mnyaka failed to meet the minimum requirements for the job.

The report was withdrawn. It was not clear if it would be brought back to the council at a later stage.

The mayoral committee, headed by mayor Ben Fihla, recently rescinded a decision by former mayor Zanoxolo Wayile in 2009 to disband the special programmes department. - Rochelle de Kock