By Zweli Martin Dlamini

NHLANGANO:Babssy Mavuso,the Chief Executive Officer(CEO)of the Nhlangano Manicipality has been accused of hiring his ‘unqualified’ alleged girlfriend Nomfundo Shongwe as the Human Resources Officer.

Reached for comments,the Nhlangano CEO denied the allegations, he said when he arrived at the Manicipality, he found that powers to hire employees were within the office of the CEO.

“So,we decided to hire an HR officer who is now responsible for hiring employees. But, there’s a Supervisor who has been hiring general labourers and I suspect he was taking bribes. So now, he doesn’t have those powers and as a result, he has been making baseless accusations against me.He is bitter after the powers to hire employees were transferred to the HR officer.I can assure you that the HR officer is qualified, she was employed transparently and she is not my girlfriend,” said the Nhlangano Chief Executive Officer(CEO).

But an insider within the Municipality told this Swaziland News that the CEO was in the process of firing the general labourers and introduce Gundane, a Labour Broker that is known for underpaying employees particularly in companies owned by capitalist Finance Minister Neal Rijikernberg.

The insider further accused the CEO of hiring the Human Resources officer suspected to be his girlfriend, without relevant qualifications.

“Some weeks ago he was advertising that he wants a company that will clean the town.He want to fire the labourers and introduce Gundane, a Labour Broker  known for ill-treating employees at Neal’s company,” said the insider.

Efforts to reach the Director of the Labour Broker proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.

But the CEO further clarified that he was expecting such allegations, after introducing changes and uprooting corruption within the Municipality.

Responding to our questions regarding the matter, Nomfundo Shongwe, the Nhlangano Town Human Resources Officer said,she was more than qualified for the position.

“I am more than qualified for this position,I did Industrial Psychology at the University of Zululand and came here with over six(6) years experience of Human Resources work from my previous employer,”said the Nhlangano Human Resources Officer.

The Human Resources Officer said when she applied for the job, the Nhlangano Town was looking for an HR officer with at least two(2) years experience but, she came-in with an over six(6) years experience as an HR officer.

On another note, Nomfundo Shongwe’s Curriculum Vitae(CV) seen by this publication suggests that she previously worked as a Human Resources Officer at ASD Medical(PTY) LTD and a Data Clerk at Sincemphetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund(SMVAF).

A senior Manager at SMVAF confirmed that Nomfundo Shongwe was with them but later secured another job with a Medical company.

“She was working here and by that time she was from the University. She later secured a job relevant with her qualifications in a Medical company,” said the MVA Manager whose name cannot be revealed for ethical reasons.

The Nhlangano Town Human Resources Officer’s CV further discloses that at ASD Medical, she was managing all human resources functions including recruitment management, capacity building and training among other duties.