It’s a conspiracy, claims Nehawu
THE NATIONAL Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) believes that the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature, the SAPS and the auditor-general’s office are conspiring together, after the union struggled to lay charges relating to “gross corruption and wasteful expenditure and defeating the ends of justice” against legislature officials.
The charges were made against the deputy speaker of the legislature, the chief financial officer (CFO), the former acting manager responsible for human capital, the head of staff in the office of the speaker and the legislature secretary.
The charges relate to a non-pensionable cash allowance of R367 788.18 that was awarded to the legislature secretary, and leave pay of R116 301.87 paid to the CFO.
Nehawu secretary general Zola Saphetha said the union reported the case at the Kimberley police station on October 6, where they were informed that the computer system was offline.
“We returned on October 18, only to told that the station had lost the file and that a new case should be opened,” said Saphetha.
He added that after the police refused to reopen the case, they notified the station commander that they would elevate the matter to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.
Saphetha explained that after “all the hullabaloo” they were finally issued with a case number yesterday.
Saphetha added that Nehawu was dismayed at the response of the auditor-general’s office, which he said condoned the actions of the legislature officials.
“We were blackmailed into apologising within 48 hours for the allegations and ordered to retract our statement in exchange for withdrawing charges against one of our members, which we refuse to do. We will also report the matter to the South African Revenue Service.”
Saphetha said members and their affiliates would embark on a full-blown strike should their grievances not be attended to.
“We will shut down all services in the Province, including hospitals, and disrupt the matric final examinations if necessary.”
The manager of public education and communication at the legislature, Carmen Gopane, pointed out that the auditor-general’s office and the SAPS were independent institutions that functioned separately from the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature.
“These organisations will not risk violating their respective mandates. The reach of the legislature does not extend into the offices of the SAPS to make case files disappear,” said Gopane.
She added that the auditor-general’s office investigated the allegations made by Nehawu in a letter dated July 25 and responded to the Nehawu branch secretary in writing on October 10.
Gopane indicated that the regulatory audit work did not identify material deficiencies regarding the concerns raised, pertaining to non-adherence to the 30-day payment period and for the payments made to the CFO and the legislature secretary.
“In addition, our quality control processes concluded that the opinions issued for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 years were correct. The AG did not condone the actions of the NCPL, the letter of the AG is clear that there were no material deficiencies to begin with. The NCPL interprets this letter as clearing the institution from any wrongdoing.”
The auditor-general’s office and the police promised to provide comment at a later stage. Danie van der Lith