Sunday Times reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing mounting pressure to dismiss Department of Higher Education (DHE) Minister Nobuhle Nkabane amid the row over her apparent lies to parliament and new disclosures that she turned a blind eye to corruption at the Construction Sector Education & Training Authority (Ceta).
Already in hot water for allegedly misleading MPs about an “independent panel” she claimed had approved politically connected names for the chairs of boards of sector education & training authorities (Setas), Nkabane faced fresh questions last week over her apparent failure to act on charges of corruption at Ceta. A source close to Ramaphosa said if parliament were to find that Nkabane had lied to MPs, he would fire her. Meantime, since July last year Nkabane has apparently been sitting on evidence of alleged tender irregularities and rigging of board appointments at Ceta. According to whistleblower Tumiso Mphuthi, senior manager in supply chain management (SCM) at Ceta – who was suspended two years ago – Nkabane’s ministry ignored her efforts to expose wrongdoing. Before her suspension Mphuthi accused the Ceta CEO, Malusi Shezi, of tender rigging. She took her allegations to the Ceta board, Nkabane’s office, parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education & training and the public protector – but none of them has initiated an investigation. The allegations included that tenders were awarded to service providers that never submitted bids, and that Shezi intervened in procurement transactions involving millions of rands. Upon her suspension, Mphuthi was hit with 20 charges related to protected disclosures she had made in 2019. When she continued to make waves, she was hit with a further 43 charges.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgothatso Madisa, Sabelo Skiti & Thabo Mokone at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page