Cape Town - The Bergrivier Municipality has appointed an independent investigator to probe allegations that a Xhosa-speaking candidate who applied for the position of an indigent examiner, was interviewed in Afrikaans.
According to Thulisa Msitho, when she arrived for the interview last week she was given a task to complete in Afrikaans, with no option to complete it in English or isiXhosa.
The 31-year-old who is a public management graduate shared her frustrations on social media and said nowhere in the application was it indicated that the job required an Afrikaans-speaking person.
“I was shocked. The application wanted two official Western Cape languages, and in my case, that is English and isiXhosa. In my application with the municipality, I made it clear that I do not speak, write, or read Afrikaans,” she said.
She said the manager was able to Google translate a few questions for her, but the rest of the questions still remained in Afrikaans.
Msitho said she then got up and left.
The municipality has since apologised and offered Msitho another interview.
Bergrivier Municipality Mayor Ray van Rooy said they have launched a full investigation.
“I personally contacted Thulisa and invited her for another interview. She told me how disappointed she is about what happened. I was not aware of this and I have asked the officials questions on this matter.
The director has appointed an independent investigator to investigate what happened,” Van Rooy said.
Msitho however said she has refused to take a second interview with the municipality.
“The mayor did call me after what happened to apologise. He then offered me a second chance to write the assessment again. I told him I do not want to write again.
Because I think what I experienced there, is something that other candidates have experienced, so it doesn’t matter if I rewrite it, it will not change how the municipality does things. After I posted about my experience at the municipality, people started coming forward saying the have experienced similar things,” she said.
Cape Times