Commander claims navy is unfairly targeting him
A COMMANDER in the SA Navy says he is the victim of a witch-hunt after he compiled a report suggesting that the maritime force can save millions of rands if it didn’t outsource work that can be done internally.
Lieutenant Commander Sylvester Mangolele has instead been accused of ill-discipline and charged in a military court. His trial started this week at the naval base in Simon’s Town and was presided over by a military judge.
The charges include four of failing to perform regimental duties, and one for making false entry on an official document.
Mangolele, who is defending himself, said the reason behind the charges was because of the contents of a report he published. He said the charges against him were “frivolous”.
“The charges against the accused (referring to himself ) are of a strategic and politically inclined nature. In the organisation, if one doesn’t have rank (seniority) they can’t have a say, thus leading to victimisation of members. The modus operandi is to get rid of the accused,” he told the court.
Last year, Mangolele was tasked to conduct an internal investigation into possible recapacitation of a workshop at the Naval Stores Depot at Wingfield. In that report, which was published on August 12 last year, Mangolele found that before the department could expand their activities, they need to cut costs. The report states that work meant for the General Navy Workshops – a unit established for surveying, repairs and maintenance of stored items – was being outsourced.
“Today, maintenance companies are milking the Navy because it is focusing on its core business and outsourcing the rest,” he said.
Mangolele refers to a situation where a new Hyundai Grand i10, which was stored due to a broken rear windscreen and a cracked mirror was fixed by an outsourcing company and it took them six months to do so.
“If the SA Navy had the capability to repair vehicles, this vehicle would have only spent a minimum of a week in our workshop,” he states in the report.
Another case was of another item stored as “BLP 133 M” that was awaiting approval of a government order of approximately R200 000 for repair by an outsourced company.
“This amount is sufficient to cater for an annual salary of a handyman and would cost less than R30 000 if the SA Navy had the capabilities to repair it,” he said.
He said Simon’s Town dock is responsible for the maintenance of all navy ships, submarines and crafts, but is only operating at 80% of its capabilities and capacity.
The Cape Argus attempted to get a response from the SA Navy, and although acknowledging that they received the questions, they had not responded by the time of going to print.