Mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo's younger brother has been appointed to the second highest post in her city police service.
But 47-year-old Mziwoxolo Molliat Mfeketo's new boss, city police chief Bongani Jonas, has denied allegations of nepotism and is adamant the mayor's brother was the best candidate for the job.
When quizzed about the salary package Mfeketo would get when he starts his new job on Monday, Jonas said: "Protocol does not allow me to disclose his salary."
Jonas said he had not known that his new deputy was the mayor's brother until the Cape Argus approached the council for comment on Wednesday.
He said last night that Mfeketo's brother was to be the new deputy of "specialist services", but reiterated throughout a lengthy interview that due process had been followed in Mfeketo's appointment.
The mayor's sibling joins Jonas's four other deputies. Jonas is himself a recent appointee, replacing Mark Sangster, who unsuccessfully applied for his own job in the council restructuring process and was essentially moved sideways.
Jonas said his new deputy's job entailed managing and directing the city's CCTV cameras, public security, security services at council facilities and premises, combating land invasions and dealing with social crime prevention, including children affected by drugs and street children.
DA spokesperson Stuart Pringle said Mfeketo's appointment was "yet another example of nepotism and jobs for pals".
He alleged a system of jobs for pals had replaced the city's restructuring and placement policy.
"It now appears that the sole consideration for appointment to the majority of senior positions in the city is the relative proximity of the appointees to high-ranking ANC officials and office-bearers," he said.
"It is an unacceptable waste of taxpayers' money to benefit a narrow elite, and does nothing to improve service delivery, which continues to deteriorate under the ruling ANC."
But Jonas was adamant that due process had been followed and that people from "across the length and breadth of the country" had been encouraged to apply for the post when it was advertised.
Candidates had been interviewed and screened until the best choice had emerged.
He said the mayor's brother had a degree in social services from the University of Cape Town, as well as an honours degree in criminology and a post-graduate degree in African studies from UCT, and a post-graduate degree in management from the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria.
His new deputy had served three consecutive terms as a military attaché in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe with the foreign service.
"We considered the man or person in terms of merit," said Jonas.
"He is an asset to the city police."
Efforts to get a comment from the mayor on her brother's appointment proved fruitless on Thursday. - Staff Reporter.