Independent Newspapers.
Former Durban mayor Obed Mlaba. Picture: Zanele Zulu.
The former mayor of Durban Obed Mlaba is tipped to become the South African high commissioner to the UK.
It is believed that Mlaba has been nominated for the position and is the preferred candidate for the top diplomatic post.
After stringent diplomatic processes and training, Mlaba is set to take over from the incumbent high commissioner to the UK and Northern Ireland, Zola Skweyiya.
Skweyiya, a former minister of social development, was appointed by President Jacob Zuma in September 2009 and his term of office as an ambassador ends in December.
According to the durban.gov.za website, Mlaba holds an MBA in Strategic Marketing Management from the International Management Centre in the UK.
He was the mayor of eThekwini for more than a decade. Before his work in the public sector, Mlaba was a manager of business development at Eskom.
Last year, he was named in the Manase investigation into fraud and corruption in eThekwini for his alleged involvement in a tender for the waste volume reduction plant, at the Bisasar Road landfill site, in Springfield.
Mlaba, however, emerged unscathed, as a senior advocate advised the city that no action could be taken against him.
He was implicated in the award of a tender to EWS, a company to which he was linked, after another company, which bid for the contract, complained about irregularities to the Manase investigators.
The report said it was unclear how the Manase investigators had found that city officials had colluded with the company, as all the correspondence was “official”.
Yesterday Mlaba refused to comment, adding that he would be “very angry” if The Mercury published a story with unconfirmed facts.
International Relations Department spokesman Clayson Monyela said no announcement had been made by the president on the appointment.
He said until Skweyiya’s term of office came to an end, “you can’t talk about his replacement”.
Monyela also said it was frowned upon for a country to announce a nominee for such a position because that candidate would first have to be given diplomatic credentials by the receiving country.
“When the president nominates a person to be an ambassador and high commissioner, that candidate is not announced until they get to that country and present their credentials.
“Once the receiving country accepts the appointment then an announcement is made by the president. Announcing it before the receiving country accepts may be seen as undermining that country,” he said.
A former South African ambassador to Turkey, Thomas Wheeler, said political appointments were common in the diplomatic corps of many countries, but it was a practice he was strongly against.
But he echoed Monyela’s sentiments, saying that “to save embarrassment” nominees were not announced until an agreement was reached because there were cases in which the receiving country rejected a nomination.
“I object to politicians becoming ambassadors because it takes away career opportunities for professional diplomats who worked their entire lives to become ambassadors.
“My objection comes when someone has been a failure elsewhere and gets sent off to be an ambassador,” he said.
Wheeler said it was important to have trained diplomats who understood how the world of diplomacy worked.
“We should get someone who can represent South Africa in a dignified and useful way. They must be able to engage with politicians, businessmen, media and non-government organisations.
“It’s a demanding job that requires someone who is hard-working and dynamic,” he said. – The Mercury
