Official’s family left destitute

Delay in payment after death of longest-serving provincial spokesperson

The Covid-19-linked death of one of the longest-serving spokespersons in the province, Gcobani Maswana, has left his family destitute.

Maswana’s wife, Thandi Jacobs Maswana, told the Dispatch that the department of social development, where Maswana had worked for more than two decades, was delaying the release of his leave gratuity payment. Three months after his death in June this had still not been received, she said.

According to the Public Service Commission, an official who has died is entitled to such payments.

Jacobs Maswana said she did not work and her late husband had been the breadwinner of the family. They have two children at school.

“This is so disappointing that the officials at the department are not living according to their core mandate of caring. We go to bed hungry; we are destitute,” she said.

She said she had sent e-mails to both MEC Siphokazi ManiLusithi’s office and to the office of the head of department, Ntombi Baart.

She said she had sent text messages to ask Baart, her husband’s ex-boss, to intervene, but felt the responses had been hostile.

She said she was told the family first had to return government assets used by the spokesperson, such as his laptop and cellphone.

“Baart told me that she cannot be blamed for the delay in the paying of the money as the delay lay with us, the family.

“But the truth is, there was no way at the time I was grieving I could travel from Port Elizabeth to submit the department’s assets. Furthermore, how would I have known that?

“I do not work for the department; someone could have called me and told me what to do.”

She said Baart could have done more to assist her.

But the MEC’s spokesperson, Lufefe Mkutu, said no-one should be blamed since “there is no crisis in the matter”.

Mkutu said: “I’ve spoken to the HOD and was told that the delay was because the department’s assets had not yet been returned. The process for the payment has been kick-started; there is nothing sinister here and there are no issues.

“This could have been handled better in the department instead of in the media. What is due to the family will be paid by the department.”

According to statements from the PSC, leave gratuities are calculated by multiplying an official’s total number of days of accrued leave by their annual salary on termination of service and then dividing that figure by 365.

The amounts are payable to officials whose services terminated for one of the following reasons: retirement, discharge, death or termination of a contract.

Maswana was admitted to a Port Elizabeth hospital on June 23 after complaining of difficulty in breathing, and died less than 12 hours later from Covid19 complications.

He was the department’s communications, media liaison and customer care director.

His death was confirmed by an emotional MEC ManiLusithi, who could not hold back her tears when speaking to the Dispatch at the time.

Maswana was lauded by the MEC for his dedication to his work.

But more than two months later Maswana’s widow told the Dispatch: “We never suffered at the time he was still alive and now must we wake him up in his grave so that he can come and fight for what is right for his family.”