Staff reporter
Bloemfontein – The appointment of Zoe Shaloom Williams as Chief Financial Officer at Centlec SOC, despite not meeting the advertised minimum requirements, has exposed the entity’s recruitment processes and internal controls.
Williams was appointed to the CFO position, which according to an advert published in City Press on 24 April 2023, required applicants to possess an NQF Level 7 qualification in Accounting or Finance.
Documents seen by this publication show that after being shortlisted on 14 December 2023, Williams was requested to submit her NQF 7 qualification certificate by 18 December 2023.
The deadline for submission was 27 December 2023.
STEPUPSANEWS can confirm that between the shortlisting process and 11 August 2025, Centlec officials sent no fewer than five emails requesting Williams to submit the outstanding certificate for vetting and verification purposes.
Centlec acting spokesperson Tsediso Liba said all senior appointments within the entity follow a structured recruitment process.
“In strict accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and general privacy requirements, CENTLEC is unable to disclose the personal details or information of any of its employees publicly.
“We remain committed to protecting the confidentiality of our staff members’ records and personal information.”
The publication sent the following questions to Liba:
- Can you confirm if she met all set out in the CFO advertisement?
- Did she submit all her certificates?
- Was she vetted and her qualifications verified with CUT and UFS?
- Should it be established that she misrepresented herself, will Centlec open a fraud case?
Williams also did not directly answer whether she eventually submitted the qualification after being requested to do so over a period of nearly two years.
In her response, Williams said:
“I can confirm that my appointment was subject to a recruitment process. I am concerned by the nature of your query, which appears to constitute a contravention of my privacy and the confidentiality of the institution, which is a national key point.”
Questions sent to Williams included:
- Did you meet all the requirements?
- Did you submit your NQF 7 certificate?
- Does it exist?
- According to UFS, you did not provide ARPL, is this true?
- Can you confirm your qualification from 2003 to 2006 ?
- Have you received your CUT qualification since it was withheld due outstanding payment?
- Did you misrepresent yourself for the current appointment?
- If you did, is it not fraud?
This is a developing story as we reach out to both CUT and Kovsies before we go back to Centlec including publication of all emails in our possession.
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