Officials able to win government business
A GAUTENG government official is to face the music for allegedly failing to disclose that he earned more than R50 000 in his private dealings with the government four years ago.
Gauteng sports, arts, culture and recreation MEC Mbali Hlophe made these revelations in a written reply to questions by the DA’s spokesperson on sports, arts and culture, Lebogang More.
However, the official is likely to be the only target as Hlophe has admitted that her department does not have the tools to prevent its officials from doing business with the provincial government or any other entity under it.
She made the admission when More asked her whether there were any officials who have done business with the department or the Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) in the past five financial years, including in 2019.
In her reply, Hlophe said: “The Gauteng Film Commission has no known knowledge of officials who have done business with GFC in the past five financial years and there is no system to track whether officials who have done business with the department or GFC in the past five years.”
Hlophe said that her department did have officials who were doing business with her department. She singled out a contract worker who apparently earns a stipend of R4 000.
The contract worker – who has an employee number – was one of the two people singled out by the Auditor-General for doing business with the government.
According to the AG, the contract worker was paid an amount of R116 000 for providing training and consultancy work to the same department during the 2018/19 financial year.
Hlophe admitted that the second person – whose name is withheld – was a permanent employee of the department.
He did business with the same department in 2017 and was paid an amount of R50 000.
“The Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation is yet to institute disciplinary action against him.”
Hlophe also admitted that some of the relatives of officials in her department and the GFC have been doing business with her department and the GFC. Hlophe said some of these relatives received funding for the past five financial years.
“Yes, both the Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation and the Gauteng Film Commission have relatives of officials who have done business with SACR and GFC. In the Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation – Enelani Business Solutions was paid R279 829.00.
“Sugar Lemon Entertainment/ Catering Services was paid R31 150 by the Gauteng Film Commission,” she said.
Hlophe, however, said the GFC was only able to identify the transaction with state officials/relatives based on its declaration of information, saying, “Thus, Sugar Lemon is the only company that was identified.”
Hlophe added: “Due to limited resources and capacity, the finance unit is unable to identify any other transaction entered into with relatives of GFC officials.”
SAA has issued notice to employees that it intends to begin consultations on retrenchments, the business rescue practitioners (BRPs) for the troubled national carrier said yesterday.
“The joint BRPs today announced that SAA has issued a notice advising its employees of the intention to begin imminent consultations in terms of section 189 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995,” a spokesperson for the BRPs said.
They stressed that retrenchments, along with route and fleet reductions, were essential to avoid liquidation.
In light of this, the BRPs proposed a shorter consultation process.
The notices went out to all trade unions representing staff and management, following talks over the weekend and earlier with labour sector representatives.
A reduction in route flow, as well as in the national airline’s fleet, was unavoidable. Apart from cutting staff, salaries could also be reduced, said the BRPs.
“The BRPs contemplate that all 4 708 employees will be affected and the number of jobs that will exist in the restructured organisation will be the subject of the consultation process.
“Significant changes to conditions of employment, including remuneration and benefits, appear unavoidable and will be sought by agreement.”
The BRPs added that they would seek to preserve as many jobs as possible, but cautioned that the outlook for SAA had dimmed further following the spread of the coronavirus and its impact on international travel.
SAA has stacked up losses of R26 billion over the past six years and was placed in voluntary business rescue in December.
“Load factors on the airline have declined steadily from August 2019 to a low of 71% in January 2020.
“Forward sales have also declined significantly, with all markets showing negative or minimal growth, within a very competitive market.
“The recent marked decline in travel due to Covid-19 will further exacerbate matters.
“The changes required at SAA are therefore both structural and economic.
“They are urgent if liquidation is to ultimately be avoided, in which event all employees will lose their jobs.”
The business rescue team, which is due to submit a report to the government at the end of this month, said they were proposing a fundamental restructuring to enable SAA to function as a sustainable African airline, and the current structure did not allow for this.
The restructuring process at this stage does not affect staff at SAA’s subsidiaries Mango, SAA Technical and Airchefs. Initial consultations with staff and representatives will be held on Thursday.
The legally prescribed 60-day consultation process will end on May 8. However, the business rescue practitioners said an expedited month-long consultation process ending April 8 had been proposed in an effort to avoid SAA’s liquidation.
“It is essential that this process achieve an agreement between the company and the unions that will be communicated to the creditors and the lenders as part of the business rescue plan, if the business rescue plan is to be approved and liquidation avoided.
“The business rescue practitioners believe that if this is achieved, SAA will be sustainable and the future of SAA can be ensured, without further fiscal assistance,” the practitioners said.