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News24 reports that the acting minister of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), Thulas Nxesi, has granted his special adviser Dr Alex Mahapa a 60-day leave of absence to allow him to respond to serious allegations against him and clear his name.
This came after recent media allegations that Mahapa acted in conflict of interest during his tenure as deputy director-general in the Department of Military Veterans. Investigative journalism unit amaBhungane implicated Mahapa as having played a hand in contentious investment in empty land located on the N12 highway between Klerksdorp and Stilfontein worth in excess of R600 million. In response to a letter from Mahapa dated 17 August 2022, Nxesi wrote: “You brought to my attention a media article wherein you were accused of allegedly acting in conflict of interest to either enrich yourself or prejudice the state, in 2016 during your employment as deputy director-general in the Department of Defence and Military Veterans.” He added that although Mahapa had assured him that the allegations leveled against him "were baseless and devoid of any truth", the government needed to hold a “zero tolerance approach towards financial impropriety”. “In my current political oversight of the DPSA as its acting political head, I view allegations levelled against you in a serious light regardless of the fact that activities giving rise to the alleged misconduct happened before I employed you as my special adviser,” said Nxesi. The minister said he reserved his right to review Mahapa’s leave conditions and employment status if Mahapa failed to clear his name to Nxesi’s satisfaction at the end of the 60 days. Mahapa has denied any wrongdoing.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Juniour Khumalo at News24
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