PSC calls for action against hiding interests
THE BATTLE between the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and aggrieved party members who successfully interdicted the provincial conference last month may not go to court tomorrow if negotiations prove successful, said ANC national executive committee member Nocawe Mafu yesterday.
She said the fact that negotiations were continuing until the 11th hour was “a good sign” that the matter might be settled outside of court.
Intense behind-the-scenes negotiations have been taking place with the ANC provincial task team and members of the national executive committee on the one hand and disgruntled members from ANC branches in Moses Mabhida, Harry Gwala and Lower South Coast regions on the other. The three branches brought an urgent court interdict on the eve of the 8th provincial conference scheduled for Empangeni last month. They said unless issues such as gatekeeping, political instability and threats of violence were dealt with, they would not rescind their case.
Their case is set down for tomorrow at the Pietermaritzburg High Court if the discussions prove futile.
“We are playing it by ear but if the discussions go well, there might not even be a court case. That discussions have continued to this length shows their grievances are being heard and there might be a positive outcome,” Mafu said.
One of the applicants from the Moses Mabhida region, Zanele Sithole, said they had not yet decided whether to withdraw their court interdict. THE PUBLIC Service Commission (PSC) has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa and provincial premiers to act against senior public servants who failed to disclose their business interests to government.
The PSC made the call after more than 700 senior government managers allegedly failed to disclose their business interests and directorships in various private and public companies.
The commission revealed their investigation found that 721 public servants failed to disclose that they were directors at various companies which were possibly doing business with the state.
PSC commissioner Mike Seloane said their findings covered the period between January and March.
Seloane said the PSC scrutinised financial disclosure forms of senior managers and conducted their own investigations to determine whether their disclosures were truthful.
“The scrutiny of the financial disclosure forms revealed that 721 members in both national and provincial departments did not disclose their directorships in private and public companies. This is in contravention of Regulation 19 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016,” Seloane said.
“The PSC has advised the executive authority (EA) to consult with these senior members to determine reasons for not fully disclosing their directorships.
“After such consultation, the EA must consider disciplinary actions against these senior managers,” Seloane said.
He said the PSC also found that 356 senior managers were doing other remunerative work, some without the necessary written approval of the relevant EA.
The total number of senior managers doing remunerative work in national departments was 183, and only 72 had written approval – 19 are DDGs and two DGs, while 38 are chief directors and 124 directors. All of them, including those with written approvals, cumulatively earned more than R16 million.