Ethics in personnel recruitment and selection process in the Department of Human Settlements, Mpumalanga Province

Abstract

In the pre-democratic era, recruitment and selection practices in South Africa were generally based on segregationist policies and legislation that reserved most skilled jobs for white employees. The post 1994 Constitution brought a new dimension by introducing principles that promote fair, non-bias, objective and equitable recruitment. The motivation is derived from section 195 1 (i) of the Constitution of Republic of South Africa of 1996 which states that employment of personnel should be fair, without prejudice, objective and should represent the demographics of South Africa. Section 195 (i) stipulates that the employment of personnel should be “…based on ability, objectivity, fairness, and the need to redress the imbalance of the past…”. The Public Service Act 103 of 1994, section 11 stipulates that in the filling of posts in the public service due consideration must be given to democratic values and principles, and appointments should be based on qualifications, skills and competencies. Furthermore, the Public Service Regulation 2001 states that the persons who are recommended for appointment in a position must have the necessary skills and competencies, and that the process must be fair and unbiased. Equally, the Employment Equity Act (1998) prohibits discrimination in employment that is based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, etc. Within this context, the aim of the study was to determine if the Mpumalanga Department of Human Settlements adheres to ethics in its recruitment and selection processes as stipulated by various legislations. The ethics would include recruiting and selecting people with relevant qualifications, skills, and competencies in a fair and unbiased manner by following the right procedures. Relying on a mixed methods research design, the study used interviews and questionnaires to elicit data from 50 employees in the Mpumalanga Department of Human Settlements. The study found that the MDHS had policies and strategies to promote ethics in its recruitment and selection processes; although these were hampered by weak implementation efforts. Incidents of favouritism, nepotism, political interference and lack of confidentiality were experienced in recruitment and selection of employees. In some cases, appointed candidates lacked the necessary skills and qualifications. Given this, it was recommended, inter alia, that implementation of ethics policies and strategies should be improved to ensure integrity and compliance in recruitment and selection processes within the MDHS environment.