Infrastructure

Question by: 
Hon Pat Marran
Answered by: 
Hon Tertuis Simmers
Question Number: 
7
Question Body: 

With regard to the filling of the vacancy of Chief Director: Human Settlements Planning:

(a) When did this position become vacant, (b)(i) when and (ii) where was it advertised, (c)(i) how many applications were received and (ii) what are the details of (aa) all the shortlisted candidates, (bb) their qualifications and (cc) their experience, (d)(i) when did his Department hold interviews for this position and (ii) what was the scoring for each candidate and (e)(i) when was Ms Kahmiela August appointed permanently in this position and (ii) what was the motivation for this appointment?

Answer Body: 
  1. The position became vacant on 01 January 2020.

(b)(i) The post was advertised on 22 November 2019, with a closing date of 17 December 2019.

(ii) The post was advertised in the WCG’s SMS Vacancy Bulletin, the DPSA’s Public Service Vacancy Circular, and a national paper. The post was also advertised on Indeed, Talent.com, Glassdoor, LinkedIn Limited Listings, Adzuna, Jooble and Google Jobs.

(c)(i) 108 applications were received.

(ii)(aa)(bb)(cc) See table below.

 

 

(aa)

(bb)

(cc)

(d)(ii)

Candidate 1

Master’s Degree in Housing Development and Management

  • Extensive experience in Human Settlements Planning, Monitoring and Analysis.
  • Served as an Accounting Officer for a period of five years in Human Settlements.
  • Strategic and Project Management experience in Human Settlements.

43%

Candidate 2

Doctoral Degree in Town and Regional Planning

  • Experience in improving accountability in the Department through directing Urban Settlements Development Grant policy and strategy for programmatic, spatial, fiscal planning, city planning and provincial planning by leading teams also consisting of members from the Projects and Programme Management team and the Planning teams to nine Provinces to direct achievement of the Medium Term Strategic Framework goals of the National Department of Human Settlements.
  • Strategic Planning in the Department by ensuring alignment between the Directorates Operational Plan, to the Departments Annual Performance Plan, and to the Department’s 5-year strategic plan.
  • Serve as a Human Settlements Planning and policy expert to all universities offering the Bachelor of Human Settlements programme in South Africa. I contribute to the Human Settlements degree curriculum refinement and serve as a guest lecturer.
  • Part of the team that developed the draft terms of reference for the Human Settlements & National Treasury Budget Planning Intergovernmental Relations Alignment Forum.
  • Lead teams also consisting of members from the Projects, Programme Management team, and the Planning teams to nine Provinces and directed strategic and technical achievement of the Medium Term Strategic Framework goals of the National Department of Human Settlements.

69%

Candidate 3

BSc Engineering (Civil) Honours and Master of Business Administration (MBA)

  • Extensive experience conducting Human Settlement Implementation and Monitoring work.
  • Portfolio Management of all projects in the Winelands and Overberg Regions which included the strategic management of all projects, strong stakeholder management with the Ministry and Mayoral Committees of municipalities, resource mobilisation, performance management and budget management of the entire human settlement project value chain. Project owner and leader of two R2 billion Catalytic projects from inception up to and including construction.
  • Experience in design and implementation of infrastructure delivery methodologies, programmes and capabilities of the Departments of Health, Education, Human Settlements and Transport and Public Works.

70%

Candidate 4

[The person named in the question]

BA Honours in Development Studies

  • Management professional with financial and staff management responsibilities.
  • Extensive exposure to human settlement development at all levels.
  • Comprehensive knowledge of management, organisational development, teambuilding, policy analysis, planning, government processes, protocols and project management.
  • Thorough legislative knowledge relevant to the public sector.

82%

 

(d)(i) Interviews were held on 21 January 2020.

(d)(ii) See table above.

(e)(i) The official was appointed effective 1 March 2020.

(ii) The following served as a motivation for appointment as set out in the nomination approval submission:

The candidate is currently employed at the Department of Human Settlements as the Director for Affordable Housing. The incumbent is responsible for management and coordination of the Affordable Housing Directorate, which incorporates the Rental Housing and GAP Housing sub-directorates. The Directorate focuses on partnership development and developing enabling mechanisms for Affordable Housing. During the interview the candidate was able to adapt previous experience gained in order to comprehensively respond to the questions posed by the interview panel.

 

Pursuant to the aforementioned, the candidate demonstrated through the interview strategic capability and leadership and is able to interpret information and do analysis with attention to detail. This relates to the fact that the candidate demonstrated an ability to think strategically and has the capacity to apply a longer-term focus and to evaluate the effects of evolving situations, demonstrating a high level of intellectual functioning. Further, the candidate will be able to ensure efficient and effective oversight and management of the Human Settlements Planning Unit.

 

The candidate came across as very knowledgeable in the subject matter and projected the capability to drive projects to conclusion, take on challenges and attempt to effectively resolve them in order to reach the end goal within the agreed timeframes. Lastly, the candidate displayed a sound understanding of the functional requirements of the post and it was clear that the candidate is familiar with the core competencies of the post. The panel resolved that the candidate is deemed most suitable for appointment in the post and is therefore recommended.

The CPP results of the candidate indicates a level of learning potential and the candidate’s cognitive profile indicates that the current level of work best matches the requirements of tactical Strategy and potential level of work, Parallel Processing.

 

The candidate demonstrates the ability to think strategically, displayed knowledge of strategic and operational planning, and applied a systematic and logical problem-solving approach. The candidate also demonstrated the ability to give direction and inspire others in order to deliver on the organizational mandate in terms of the candidate’s capability to consider new ideas and a new vision. Based on the competency assessment, the candidate provided adequate evidence of proficiency in 4 areas of the core competencies, namely: a) Strategic Capability and Leadership, b) Programme and Project Management, c) Change Management and d) People Management and Empowerment. Financial Management was however identified as a developmental area.

Date: 
Friday, March 8, 2024
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