Otjiwarongo Mayor Gottlieb Shivute on Wednesday promised to launch an in-depth investigation into allegations levelled against his council officials for reportedly conducting job interviews for cleaner positions Tuesday night.

Shivute, upon inquiry on Wednesday, told Nampa that he received complaints that 41 candidates were interviewed for 17 vacant cleaner positions at the municipality.

"I am now out of town, but once I return, I will definitely look into that allegation and establish for myself whether the matter is real or whether it is a mere rumour," he said.

When asked whether it is normal practice for the municipality to conduct job interviews at night, Shivute said he is not aware of such a practice.

On her part, the municipality’s human resources manager, Rachel Engelbrecht, who chaired the interviews, said the interview committee recommended that the interviews be done at night because there were such a large number of candidates.

She said the 41 candidates attended the interviews, held at the Paresis Sports Stadium hall, and there was nothing sinister about the practice.

"The interviews took place from Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. until Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m., meaning we interviewed them throughout the night as per the committee of panellists’ recommendations," she said.

Engelbrecht further stated that candidates struggled to answer questions, which contributed to the lengthy interview process, which went far beyond the estimated time of two hours allocated to 10 candidates.
(NAMPA)