Muthambi to face tough questions
PUBLIC Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi will today have an opportunity to answer in Parliament the questions that have surfaced after her reported flouting of procedures in hiring staff in her office.
Muthambi and a delegation of staff from her department and entities will appear before the public service and administration portfolio committee to brief members on the finances for the last quarter of 2016/17 and the first quarter of 2017/18.
Their appearance come in the wake of reports that Muthambi hired 27 of her friends and family members as staff without following public service prescripts.
The reports have sparked threats from the DA to report Muthambi to the joint committee on ethics and members’ interests for investigation.
This came after previous reports claimed she had flown friends and family members to attend her budget speech vote in May.
Yesterday, committee chairperson Makhosi Khoza confirmed that Muthambi would appear before the committee.
“I’m unable to say how the meeting will unfold,” Khoza said.
She did not want to speculate on what could transpire.
“Let’s afford her an opportunity to come to the meeting. I don’t want to be accused of not affording the minister an opportunity,” Khoza added.
The committee previously gave the assurance that it would investigate the allegations of unfair recruitment processes.
At the time, there were calls for Muthambi to pay back the money spent on flying her friends and family to Cape Town at taxpayers’ expense. However, Muthambi’s ministry yesterday responded sharply to the “misleading” reports that the minister had employed relatives in her office.
“The ministry would like to put it on record that none of the support staff mentioned in the… story are friends or relatives of the minister,” it said.
The ministry was “dismayed at these misleading reports” and dismissed suggestions that Muthambi did not follow prescripts when appointing staff.
“The minister may appoint persons in posts in the ministry without following advertisement processes provided that such appointments are either linked to the term of the minister or for a period not exceeding three years...”
But, DA deputy chief whip Mike Waters said his colleagues in the joint committee on ethics and members’ interests will take up the matter when the committee meets today.