Latest suspension points to lack of transparency – MPs

If there is no intervention to take charge, we are going nowhere

WATER and Sanitation Department director-general Dan Mashitisho came under fire from MPs yesterday over the suspension of yet another one of his deputies.

The latest suspension – of deputy director-general for policy and regulation, Anil Singh – brings to four the number of Mashitisho’s deputies who are on suspension.

During a briefing, it took the water and sanitation portfolio committee almost three hours to get confirmation from the department that Singh had been placed on suspension.

The department was sent packing last week after Matshitisho did not turn up at committee despite apparently being ordered by Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane to attend.

The drama started after committee members asked about the whereabouts of Singh. Mashitisho said he was on “special leave” based on an “administrative issue”. Mashitisho, who initially apologised for bunking last week’s meeting, offered to provide the committee with a report on the matter.

Despite being asked by the DA’s Leonard Basson if “special leave” was another word for suspension, Mashitisho insisted that Singh was not suspended.

Basson said the “special leave” Matshitisho spoke about was “very suspicious”.

“Who is hiding what? I’m fed-up with coming up every time to the same position where the department is not open on serious issues. We had the previous director-general who was open with us. She took the committee into confidence, and I am not experiencing that from this director-general,” he said.

The ANC’s Thomas Makondo said the department seemed to be without middle management with the suspension of deputy directors-general.

“There is an issue of a deputy director-general who is on special leave. We want it clarified what that means,” Makondo said.

He accused Mashitisho of not taking the committee seriously. Mkondo’s sentiment was shared by his colleagues.

The ANC’s Hlomane Chauke said it was clear that the department, with a R15-billion budget, was collapsing under Mashitisho’s leadership.

“Gradually we are collapsing the department. If we are to deal with deputy director-general issues, the procedure to be followed is you serve a person a notice and, based on response, you suspend,” he said.

Chauke said it was concerning that the department had suspended some of its top officials.

“If there is no intervention to take charge of the department, it is clear we are going nowhere. Three deputy directors-general have been suspended and the fourth has also been suspended,” he said.

Mashitisho denied hiding any information from the committee and in a slip of the tongue, he mentioned “precautionary suspension” to deal with with “consequence matters”.

Although Mashitisho insisted that there was no suspension, it transpired that he wrote to Singh, asking him to give reason why he should not be suspended.

In the same letter, he ordered Singh to vacate the department premises on receiving the correspondence.

Committee chairperson Mlungisi Johnson said the correspondence that was hastily brought to the committee after a 10-minute break showed there was a precautionary suspension of Singh.