The Citizen reports that more chaos has been added to the controversy surrounding the Department of Social Development (DSD) and its minister, Sisisi Tolashe.

The latest incident is that of Tolashe’s parliamentary liaison officer, Luvuyo Shasha, warning the department’s suspended communications chief Lumka Oliphant she will “get hurt”. Oliphant was suspended in September after findings made by the Auditor-General (AG). The DSD said it was investigating potential misconduct, but Oliphant claimed her suspension had nothing to do with the AG’s report, but was linked to a news report about a R3 million trip to New York by Tolashe. Oliphant alleged the minister believed she was behind the media leaks.

According to a Sunday Times report, Shasha phoned Oliphant on Saturday and told her she could get hurt if she did not stop her “tantrum” behaviour. He then updated his WhatsApp status with several messages. Oliphant said two of them felt like threats towards her. One stated that he had “warned” her, while the other said: “I will shoot you with an AK47 if you don’t listen.” The suspended communications chief then opened a case of intimidation at the Sandton police station. After this, the DSD confirmed that Shasha too had been suspended. “Acting in his [personal] capacity, the officer’s conduct is considered to have brought the minister and the department into disrepute,” acting deputy director-general Xolile Brukwe explained.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Gareth Cotterell at The Citizen

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