The Bergrivier Municipality has been criticised for unfair labour practices after subjecting a Xhosa-speaking candidate to an Afrikaans interview assessment.
Thulisa Msitho posted her frustrations on social media after she went for an interview at the Bergrivier Local Municipality on Thursday, for the position of indigent examiner.
Msitho, 31, a public management graduate, said that when she arrived for the interview, she was given a task to complete in Afrikaans, with no option to complete it in English or isiXhosa, which are also the Western Cape’s official languages.
“I quickly addressed the fact that I do not speak or read the language, and they requested that I wait for the second group that would be writing the assessment at 10.30am. I arrived at 8.30am.
"I didn’t mind waiting, as I wanted a fair fighting chance for the position, but at 10.30am, the manager only managed to Google translate a few questions for me, and the rest of the questions still remained in Afrikaans, and there was nothing they could do about it, as they said. I then stood up and left,“ said Msitho.
She said that nowhere in the application was it indicated that the job required an Afrikaans-speaking person. The application wanted two official Western Cape languages, and in my case, that is English and isiXhosa.
“In my application with the municipality, I made it clear that I do not speak, write, or read Afrikaans. I was shocked, surprised, and discriminated against," said Msitho.
She said it angered her that she had to waste her time and resources travelling to their offices only to be treated in this manner.
"We are in a democratic country that has long passed apartheid, and yet we are still subjected to doing things in Afrikaans, and I just wondered how many black, non-Afrikaans speaking candidates had to be subjected to such incompetence by this human resources department?
“Clearly, they don't know how to shortlist. Or do they just call black people for these assessments just for statistics,” she said.
She said she spent two hours travelling to the interview and, in the process, wasted her petrol.
Bergrivier Municipality Mayor Ray van Rooy, said he was aware of the incident and was shocked and embarrassed by it. He has called for a full investigation.
“I apologise to Thulisa, for the treatment she received.
“We are deeply saddened by this incident, and it is totally unacceptable. I have called for an investigation into this matter,” said van Rooy.
He said the municipality would contact Msitho to give her another chance to take the assessment again.
“Bergrivier Municipality is an equal-opportunity employer that strives to treat all people with dignity, and we set high standards for ourselves to deliver excellent services to all our communities, including applicants.”
He said they regarded the matter as extremely serious, and the municipal manager had already taken it up with the relevant directorate for appropriate action.
“The municipality is looking at measures to improve its selection processes to ensure that a similar incident never happens again,” said van Rooy.
Despite the municipality willing to give her another shot, Msitho said she would be reluctant to take the offer for a second time because she said her rights had already been violated.
Commenting, EFF provincial spokesperson, Wandile Kasibe said an apology was not enough and that heads had to roll.
“We call for a full investigation. Whoever is responsible must be suspended. It can’t be at this day in the Western Cape that we continue to talk about institutional racism."
The EFF said they would study the matter and take action against the municipality.
Labour lawyer Michael Bagraim believed that Msitho had a case against the municipality and could to take it to the Equality Court and to CCMA.
“I believe this is an unfair labour practice, this is without doubt an act of discrimination. The candidate can sue the municipality for unfair labour practice, and they must pay for this,” said Bagraim.
He said the municipality should have a look at their code of practice and that action should be taken against the person who initiated this, to make sure that it didn’t happen again.
Weekend Argus