IOL Business reports that the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) has been given the go-ahead to proceed with disciplinary action against a senior employee who had claimed whistleblower protection.

The Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) found in a recent decision that the employee, who was seeking protection as a whistleblower, did not make his or her disclosures “sincerely, honestly and in good faith and thus cannot be regarded as protected disclosures to be protected against occupational detriment”. According to CETA, the employee had attempted to halt disciplinary proceedings by invoking the Protected Disclosure Act of 2000, “disguising themselves as a whistleblower when they were not.” The employee is facing a raft of serious charges, including violation of supply chain management policies leading to irregular expenditure, breach of contract management policies, leaking of confidential information, misrepresentation, fraud, and forgery – including the alleged forging of the CEO’s signature. In a statement, CETA CEO Malusi Shezi said that the “ruling by CCMA confirms that there was never any whistleblower to start with. We welcome this ruling as very critical for applying consequences management against serious transgressions.” CETA noted that the employee’s disclosures were only made in August 2019, three months after a forensic investigation report implicating the same official was issued to the CETA board. The employee was suspended in June 2023.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicola Mawson at IOL Business

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