THE City of Joburg appointed new Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) chief Patrick Jaca despite legal opinion advising the municipality to restart the selection process.
The legal opinion was prepared by Advocate Neo Ntingane, with the assistance of Tshiqi Zebediela Attorneys Inc in November.
”The conduct and/or recommendations of the selection and interview panel do not comply with legal requirements due to the lack of an external expert and are accordingly unlawful and invalid,” the city was advised.
According to the legal opinion, the city should have reconstituted a new selection and interview panel, which should shortlist and interview the prospective candidates.
In addition, the head of department, in appointing an external expert, should have considered the chiefs of other metro police departments.
The SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) raised objections in October on the composition of the selection panel following interviews that took place in September.
Samwu stated that according to its interpretation of the municipal staff regulations governing recruitment in local government, former JMPD chief David Tembe was introduced as a specialist.
However, former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane found in 2020 that Tembe fraudulently obtained his metropolitan police diploma qualification.
Tembe was shortlisted and subsequently appointed JMPD chief in 2017 even though the advertisement for the position required a minimum qualification of a “Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification in an appropriate field, such as policing and/or management, which Tembe did not possess”.
Mkhwebane said evidence at her disposal revealed that Tembe only possessed a three-year diploma in personnel management from Mentor Business College.
The SA Qualifications Authority advised Mkhwebane’s office that for the purposes of the national qualifications framework, a three-year diploma in personnel management is not comparable to a Bachelor’s degree, since the two are rated differently.
She found that Tembe did not meet the minimum academic requirements for the position as framed in the job advertisement.
Mkhwebane ultimately found that the appointment of Tembe by the City of Johannesburg was irregular and made in gross violation of the Constitution, and several statutes including the policy document for traffic training centres.
The legal opinion stated that the Public Protector’s findings impugning Tembe’s qualifications exist in fact and have legal consequences that cannot simply be overlooked.
”It would be remiss for the city to disregard these. The shortlisting and interview process is therefore unlawful, and the conduct and/or recommendations of the selection committee cannot be given effect to, as they are equally unlawful,” the opinion stated.
Solomon Maila, the DA’s shadow member of the mayoral committee for public safety in the City of Johannesburg, said the party will not be challenging Jaca’s appointment.
”We supported this appointment in council, acknowledging that the JMPD has not had a full-time chief of police for almost five years now, since the resignation of Tembe in March 2020. It must be stated that there were neither criminal nor disciplinary charges against Jaca at the time of his appointment by council on Thursday, January 30,” Maila explained.
He added that there are also no civil proceedings before the courts of law challenging the appointment.
”In the circumstances, therefore, Jaca’s suitability for appointment as chief of police for the JMPD is unchallenged,” Maila said.