City Press reports that Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) acting CEO, Mduduzi Vilakazi, the agency’s executives and board members have received death threats in an e-mail that was sent to two addresses on 5 July.
Four days later, in the early hours of the morning, Vilakazi’s house was broken into and burglars got away with a laptop, a cellphone and sneakers, but left more valuable items. Both cases are being investigated by the Organised Crime Unit. Vilakazi said that he could not speculate as to the source of the threats because, as CEO of the agency, he dealt with various sensitive issues, including curbing rhino poaching, "rowdy" employees who had tried to get him fired, land claims worth billions of rands on protected areas and corruption within the MTPA. Vilakazi has applied for the CEO position on a full five-year term. Last November, MTPA employees forced Vilakazi out of his office after levelling serious allegations of corruption, maladministration and mismanagement against him. Through trade union Nehawu, the workers made various allegations against Vilakazi, including that he mismanaged funds. The workers called for a forensic and a lifestyle audit on Vilakazi. This occurred a few months after the MTPA received its first clean audit report in 15 years. The board then investigate and in February this year, a forensic report by Samba Solutions, cleared Vilakazi. According to Samba Solutions, Nehawu failed to respond to three emails requesting information on the allegations against Vilakazi.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sizwe sama Yende at City Press (subscriber access only)
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