Cape Town - A Facebook advert to hire a social media officer has become a bone of contention between the ANC and the premier’s office.
Last month, in response to a written question about a Facebook advert for a “social media officer in the premier’s office” that appeared over a month ago, Premier Alan Winde said there was no such position in his office.
Leader of the official opposition Cameron Dugmore (ANC) had asked Winde whether he had advertised for a social media officer, a political appointment in his office, for the current financial year, and whether the post had been filled and what the details of the post were.
In his written response, Winde said: “No, there is no such position as ‘social media officer’ on the establishment of the Premier’s Office.”
This even though screenshots of the Facebook advert showed that the post had been made by Winde’s chief of staff Tammy De Decker, to whom the successful applicant for the role would report.
Winde’s spokesperson Cayla Murray said: “As stated in the parliamentary response, there is technically no social media officer position on the establishment of political offices.
“However, due to the importance of keeping the public informed of government work, and in order to keep up with emerging skill sets needed by workplaces, this expertise has been added to the duties of other posts in many political offices, including the president’s.”
On Monday, Dugmore said he had asked the original question to confirm the practice of cadre deployment in the Western Cape government and in particular the premier’s office.
Dugmore said that the ANC had spent months probing for the full details of the vacancy in order to get a full understanding of who was finally appointed.
“We have been taken from pillar to post, to the extent of the premier’s office denying advertising the position on the Facebook group called the Resource Community. We want the full details of this position and the candidate who was appointed.”
He said he wanted the premier to stop hiding the truth about the post and that he would now follow up on the matter until he got to the truth.
