Former IEC vice-chairperson Terry Tselane will be referred to the Office of the Presidency over his claims that the electoral commission refused to support him when he applied for an international job.
On his Twitter account, Tselane wrote: "What a great pity that an organization I dedicated my life for, for almost 20 years of my life is unable to confirm that I actually worked for them and the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Panama was able to do it with so much ease!"
Electoral commission spokesperson Kate Bapela said it did not deal with matters relating to commissioners and employees via the media.
Created a false impression
"However, the deliberate omission and ambiguity about a request made by the former vice-chairperson of the commission, Tselane, has regrettably created a false impression that the commission needs to correct.
"The electoral commission received a request from Tselane on May 27, 2019, for a letter of support for his personal application for the post of secretary-general of the Association of World Election Bodies (AWEB), an international association of electoral management bodies of which the electoral commission is a member, said Bapela
"The position of secretary-general has been advertised since the beginning of March 2019 and Tselane has never discussed the position or his intention to apply with the electoral commission prior to his letter of May 27, 2019."
Bapela said the requirements for applications, as spelt out in article 18 of the AWEB constitution, required letters of support from at least two members of the AWEB executive board.
"The electoral commission is currently not a member of this board. A letter from the commission is therefore not a requirement, a fact that Tselane himself acknowledged. As a constitutional office-bearer, Tselane was not an employee of the electoral commission. The authority that appoints commissioners is the president of the Republic of South Africa on the recommendation of Parliament," said Bapela.
The commission emphasised that the request from Tselane was not primarily for a letter confirming his employment at the commission and confirmation of his subsequent tenure as a commissioner.
This could easily have been obtained from the human resources department of the electoral commission – something that Tselane was well aware of, she added.
"In acknowledging the decision by the electoral commission to refer Tselane to the office of the president, he indicated that he understood the position of the electoral commission and appeared to regard the matter as closed," said Bapela.
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