Pikitup MD: There are ‘serious operational and general management problems’

Lungile Dhlamini, the Pikitup managing director (MD) recently accused in media reports of having been found “unsuitable” by two different psychometric assessment service providers, believes “there are serious operational and general management problems and challenges at Pikitup”.

He said his firm approach as a “situational manager” would remain in place until the situation was “fully stabilised and normalised”.

Dhlamini was responding to several grievances from various stakeholders, who among other grievances, said they were not completely surprised human resources specialists graded his competency very low.

Some painted a scary picture of a man who habitually shouted at managers, belittled executives and reminded them they were highly paid and impulsively dealt with complex problems in a childish manner that created more problems.

The Star last week published a report in which it was disclosed that, according to the psychometric assessment results, Dhlamini was placed at a “junior to middle management” level.

It was alleged he was nevertheless given the nod for the MD position by mayor Herman Mashaba as a way to placate a faction of the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) that is supportive of the DA-led City of Joburg coalition.

The Citizen previously reported how the same faction was allegedly behind the mayor’s controversial decision to reinstate an axed internal auditor at City Power despite legal opinion that the city had no legitimate reason to not contest its decision to fire the employee at the CCMA or Labour Court.

It was also discovered the high court recently ruled that the faction alleged to have thrown its weight behind Mashaba has no legal basis to represent workers in the city.

READ MORE: Mashaba on anti-ANC purging spree, critics allege

“On the part of the psychometric assessments, I think [the] board and panel which conducted the recruitment and selection process are best positioned to respond,” Dhlamini said.

He mention two previous senior management positions he had held in the City of Cape Town: as the director for water and sanitation as well as executive director of utility services and his previous stint as MD for Joburg Water as an indicator that he is a competent manager.

“I am on record that I have served under both ANC and DA-led administrations in the past 11 years or so. This is somewhat deja vu in that similar accusations were levelled at me by faceless people, where in Cape Town I was branded a DA puppet when the ANC lost the Metro to a DA-led coalition in 2006. Fast-forward to the outcome of last year’s local government elections outcome, I am again branded a DA mayor’s puppet,” Dhlamini said.

“During my acting period as MD, my brief was clear: normalise, stabilise and regularise noncompliances with internal policies and procedures. So, I had to blitz and troubleshoot the environment, which I am continuing to do since my appointment on 2 May 2017,” the MD said in a response to allegations that the only meetings he had held so far were with Mashaba, the board chairperson, and Anthony Still, the MMC for environment and infrastructure services.

He said the roadshows sources in the metro said degenerated into a humiliating exercise, where Dhlamini and board chairperson Bheki Shongwe allegedly reminded senior managers they were inept and could be fired, were an initiative of the chairperson, “triggered by a litany of staff grievances and shop-floor issues which were literally ignored [and] never attended to by management”, with some grievances dating back as far as 2010.

“The roadshows were conducted such that general staff were allowed to air their grievances against management without fear of reprisals in the presence of management. It is really preposterous for any executive or senior to cry foul that he or she was not afforded an opportunity to respond to staff grievances during the roadshow, when such staff grievances occurred under their watch spanning many years.

“I, however, routinely do lament and bemoan the incompetence and consistent poor work ethic by some managers across all management levels. Leadership and management is not about titles and status – it is about delivering on your job. My mantra is that my tolerance levels for incompetence across all management levels is proportional to the job level or grade, myself included,” Dhlamini concluded.

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You can follow the author @Gosebo_Mathope or email gosebom@citizen.co.za

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