The African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg said on Wednesday that it rejected the appointment of David Tembe as the City’s metro police new chief, accusing the Democratic Alliance-led administration of flouting recruitment and appointment processes.
This comes after Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba announced earlier in the day that the veteran Tembe had taken over the post from Tuesday.
Tembe previously occupied various roles within the City entities, including the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and the Johannesburg Emergency Services, for 20 years before joining the Road Traffic Management Corporation and later practicing as a consultant in law enforcement.
The process that was followed before Tembe’s name was approved by council had angered the opposition ANC in Johannesburg since it preferred another candidate, General Eric Gela.
ANC spokesperson in Joburg, Jolidee Matongo, said in a statement that Mashaba had brought a report to appoint Gela as the chief of police for the City of Joburg on 19 October as Tembe was scored as candidate number five in the same report.
“After discussions at this meeting, the Mayor withdrew the report and the matter was sent back to the executive for further consideration. Following the 19 October 2017 Council meeting there were no new set of interviews for the Chief of Police for the City of Joburg,” Matongo said.
“Instead a new report on the appointment of the chief of police was presented to Council on the 29 November 2017. In this new report David Tembe was recommended for appointment as the chief of police.”
Matongo said that the ANC caucus in the City of Johannesburg rejected this appointment as “it did not afford the highest scoring candidates the opportunity to be appointed to the position”.
Matongo went on to reject a unanimous recommendation by the recruitment panel that even though Tembe was the fifth on the list, this was a crucial position and the City preferred the candidate being able to take-up the position immediately as the first four candidates were not registered members of a Municipal Police Service, which would take months to provide them with necessary training and registration.
“This recommendation by the panel if it indeed came from the panel, clearly demonstrates that David Tembe is not the most suitable candidate to be appointed as the chief of police in the City of Joburg. Therefore, his appointment will be challenged by the ANC using all available avenues,” Matongo said.
“We will in the meantime approach the MEC for Cooperative Governance in the province and the Minister of Public Service and Administration to look into the matter. We have also given our legal team all the required documentation to start a process to have this appointment set aside.”
