Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Eswatini Television Authority (ESTVA) will be going for the fourth round of the chief executive officer (CEO) recruitment exercise. That is if a fresh directive by Minister of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Princess Sikhanyiso to the Eswatini TV Board is anything to go by.
It has been confirmed that the minister has directed the station’s board led by Chief Sicunusa Dlamini to facilitate the CEO recruitment exercise by placing adverts in the local media.
This comes after the ministry appointed Andreas Dlamini into the position in October on a six-month acting basis to keep the fires burning and further stabilise the national television station.
It has now emerged that the minister has since instructed the board to advertise the position. The station’s board chairman confirmed the directive from the minister, further explaining that the responsibility was now with the station’s management to advertise the post.
“Yes, it is true that the minister issued a directive that we facilitate the hiring of the new CEO and this is now being handled by the management. I am not sure what is delaying the advertising process from the management side,” Dlamini briefly said.
The current acting CEO’s reign is due to expire in February next year and impeccable sources within the station confided that he (Dlamini) was not guaranteed to retain the position on a full-time basis.
The exercise of recruiting Eswatini TV CEO was done twice last year by different consultants and the third one cost the broadcaster nearly E1 million.
The position of CEO for the national TV station was left vacant after the late former CEO Bongani Austin ‘Sigcokosiyancinca’ Dlamini’s term ended in January 2021.
The first recruitment exercise was done early last year by Kobla Quashie Consultants, and completed sometime in May. However, the candidate who was eventually recommended to the ministry was not appointed.
The board chairman was quoted as stating at the time that the reason the ministry could not approve the recommended candidate was that Members of Parliament (MPs) had levelled damning allegations against the prospective candidate.
“The ministry said the candidate could not be approved since MPs had, after their probe raised a query about the candidate.
Though we are always told that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law, the ministry did not consider the person,” he was quoted as saying. As a result, the station was forced to re-advertise the CEO’s post, and this time around SAMKHO Consultant was allotted for the exercise.
The consultant completed its task sometime in September last year, and the board is said to have made recommendations and submitted all the paperwork to the ministry for approval.
The board chairman revealed that the person they recommended the second time was different from the previous one hence were hoping the ministry would approve him/her.
“Our duty is to recommend, we have done our part, we recommended someone in October last year and now it is upon the ministry to approve,” he said at the time.
By virtue of being classified as Category A public enterprise under the ministry of ICT, members of parliament, during the budget debate, wanted to know why the ministry had not hired a CEO at the station and suggested that they engage a consultant for the recruitment exercise. The chairperson, on the other hand, indicated that this would cost STVA over E200 000 for an exercise they had already done twice.
The xhairman highlighted that since the expiry of the contract of the late former CEO (Sgcoko), the board had to appoint different officers on an acting basis for five months each and then break before the six-months acting period elapsed while the consultants were carrying out the recruitment process.
Setback He lamented this as preventing continuity and a setback in the success of the parastatal, as several issues required a substantive CEO. “Such include the turnaround strategy that would address the cash flow challenges faced by the station, which, for one, is partly due to the decrease of the subvention.
We would also need to carry out a board induction with the CEO and there are international and local meetings that ought to be attended by the CEO,” he stated.
According to a subsequent advert released by Eswatini Television Authority when seeking the suitable candidate, the CEO must be a dynamic leader, who will be responsible for the overall strategic direction and transformation of the organisation towards international standards.
The ICT minister, when responding to the MPs during the Portfolio Committee debate of her ministry, stated that the candidates they identified for the position turned out not to be suitable.
“The selection of the CEO fits the very complaints of the people and it was not going to assist us in any-way, hence that process had to be undertaken again.
We have taken the advice given by Ndzingeni MP to utilise the services of a consultant in identifying a CEO and we are not sure how long the process will take,” she stated at the time.
The ESTVA CEO position has been a controversial one since the retirement of the late ‘Sigcokosiyancinca’ on January 31, 2021, attracting hullabaloos since the days of the late Dan Dlamini in the 1990s before Celani Ndzimandze took over, but his contract was also terminated on February 25, 2005 after a lot of infighting at the station.
The late Sabelo Masuku also acted as the CEO, and his term was short-lived, as he faced numerous trials there. Vukani Maziya was next to take up the position but his tenure was also not a rosy one as his confirmation was not approved by the late prime minister, Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini’s administration, despite passing the interview with flying colours.
It was the administration of former Prime Minister Absalom Themba Dlamini (now Tibiyo TakaNgwane MD), which eventually endorsed the consultancy’s recommendation for the appointment of Maziya.
One of Maziya’s tasks was a tough one as he had to deal with the then Director of Outside Broadcasting Unit (OB) Qhawe Mamba, who was employed by ESTVA, yet was also operating a private television station, Channel Swazi, now known as Channel YemaSwati.
Enemies Maziya created enemies by removing Mamba from ESTVA. He later passed away in July 2010 while still holding the ESTVA CEO position. Noteworthy is that ‘Sigcokosiyancinca’s reign as the CEO met resistance as he had to offload staff that earned high salaries, inviting enemies for declaring certain positions as redundant.
Vusigama Khumalo then acted as the CEO during the suspension of ‘Sigcokosiyancinca’ and it was not long before he faced challenges as Sigcokosiyancinca bounced back, forcing Khumalo to vacate office.
Since the retirement and death of the former CEO, the station has been without a substantive CEO even though Kenneth Maziya also acted in the position for 18 months.
Information gathered is that during the interviews for the CEO post, Maziya took pole position hence the consultants reportedly recommended his appointment but this was not endorsed by the ministry of ICT.
The ESTVA Human Resource Policy, brought into line with the Government General Orders, provides that an officer should not act for six months, further stating that if such happens, the officer must be confirmed to the position.
In Maziya’s case, inquiries revealed that his contract was ended before the six-month period elapsed and he allegedly would take a two-day break before receiving another letter of appointment.
This allegedly happened for a period of 18 months. Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of ICT, Phesheya Dube also applied for the position of ESTVA CEO before he was appointed into his current position.
Worth noting is that Section 8 (1) of the Public Enterprise Act, 1989, offers that the board, referred to as the governing body, is responsible for the nomination of the CEO. Dismissed
“Except in the case of the University of Swaziland (Eswatini), the governing body of each Category A public enterprise shall nominate the chief executive officer who shall be appointed, or who may be dismissed by the minister responsible acting in consultation with the Standing Committee,” it states.
It has further been reported that in the second recruitment exercise conducted by SAMKHO, Mncedisi Mayisela and Kenneth Maziya scored high, as they both attained 83.3 per cent.
The consultants are said to have stated that if Maziya was not appointed, Mayisela should be considered for the job or alternatively Phesheya Dube. The final interview results produced by SAMKHO were as follows:
*Kenneth Maziya – 83.3%
*Mncedisi Mayisela – 83.3%
*Phesheya Dube – 64.6%
*Titus Mavimbela – 46.7%.
In a previous advert ran by the television station, it was spelt out that the CEO should be a dynamic leader who will be responsible for the overall strategic direction and transformation of the organisation towards international standards.
The suitable candidate would also be responsible for the development and implementation of the strategic plan in line with the industry best practices and should ensure policy development and decision-making support the board and provide secretariat and advisory services to the board.
The CEO is also expected to have a combination of qualifications, skills and experience deemed to be essential for satisfactory performance in the position and must be a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) or Business Management or equivalent, with a minimum of 10 years’ experience working as a member of executive management.
It is also stated that the candidate must have good knowledge of the film and television industry. Quizzed about these development, the acting CEO could only confirm that there is a directive to advertise the CEO post.
“The recruitment of the CEO is handled by REMCO as an independent body from the daily operations of station and they are the ones with the responsibility to advertise. I may not be sure what is causing the delay but we will wait for a report from them,” the acting CEO said briefly.
ESTVA Corporate Affairs Manager Mncedisi Mayisela was contacted by the Sunday Observer to shed light on the CEO issue but he referred such questions to the board chairman.
ICT Ministry PS Phesheya Dube explained that the minister acted within the powers conferred to her by the Public Enterprise Unit (PEU) Act to issue the directive for the CEO recruitment exercise.
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