The Citizen reports that the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and the Construction Education and Training Authority (Ceta) traded barbs on Saturday over a protest by the former organization earlier in the week.
Outa protested outside the Ceta head office in Midrand on Thursday to highlight what it called the “rot” in SA’s sector education and training authorities (Setas). It said Setas were plagued by deep-rooted maladministration and governance failures, while costing around R21 billion annually. However, Ceta on Saturday criticised the protest by Outa, saying it was “unauthorised” and “disruptive”. “The gathering, which occurred without proper notification and approval by the metro… interfered with Ceta’s operations and created an unsafe environment for staff arriving at work, including attempts to block employees from entering the premises,” it claimed. Ceta added that it called law enforcement to check on the protest, after which Outa “vacated the premises”. It also said Outa’s protest was part of a “bigger smear campaign” against Setas. Outa, however, responded by saying: “Outa’s peaceful picket involved fewer than 15 people – which, under the Regulation of Gatherings Act, doesn’t require prior notice. Another poor attempt to use public resources to dodge accountability.” Outa went on to state: “The Duja report exposed it all and Ceta did nothing. That silence cost the public R18 million. We protest because the public deserves better.” The Duja report was commissioned after a whistleblower made allegations of corruption against the training authority.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Gareth Cotterell at The Citizen
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