CEO accused of corruption
NATIONAL Youth Development Agency (NYDA) CEO Waseem Carrim is at the centre of a storm and faces numerous allegations of fraudulent activities and maladministration.
The agency’s employees allege that Carrim has abused state resources to benefit his associates. They say they are fed up with his “shenanigans”.
The allegations were brought forward by whistle-blowers within the utility. Among the allegations are that he spent close to R5 million during the hard lockdown for Youth Day in 2020. It is also alleged that he spent more than R20m to buy branded material for National Youth Service participants. It’s alleged that the board investigated the matter but nothing was done.
The whistle-blowers also allege that the entity’s offices were procured from Carrim’s church mate and cost R3.9m a year for 10 years. Carrim is also accused of appointing an ICT project manager permanently without a “cooling-off period”. He is also alleged to have promoted an executive manager without the vacancy being advertised. The insiders further accused Carrim of increasing an executive manager’s salary by R400 000 over the past four years after she lied that she had been offered a job at the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority.
The whistle-blowers say Carrim was untouchable. In an email sent to the office of the public protector, Parliament and the auditor-general, the employees blamed the board for not doing enough to hold Carrim accountable. They said nothing had been done despite the fact that the whistle-blower had reported his shenanigans months ago. They accused the board of extending his contract despite the allegations levelled against him.
“This clearly shows disdain for the concerns of young people who mostly get affected by these actions… The president must dissolve this board and get young people that understand the role and have the capacity to lead.”
The allegations were supported by a former employee of the agency, Sibusiso Mtungwa, who claimed in an affidavit that Carrim tried to bribe him with R10000 every month in an attempt to stop him from implicating Carrim.
Mtungwa, who is now a managing director at Public Eye Media and Communications, said it all started after he received a Request for Quotation in January this year. He said this was for a life skills workshop, which included a workshop pack, Covid-19 compliance kit and a presentation on life skills for 2000 delegates.
Mtungwa said the company that utilised his services had been struggling to pay him until he allegedly found that Carrim was behind the non-payment, allegedly because Carrim believed that he was behind emails doing the rounds regarding allegations of malfeasance, maladministration and corruption.
Mtungwa said he approached Carrim on April 28 and told him to stop the accusations. He also told Carrim to release his pay but he was referred to Siyabonga Mbambo, a senior manager. He said both Mbambo and Carrim requested a meeting, which was held at the Waterfall complex on May 9.
According to the affidavit, Mbambo told him: “What we are offering is that we pay you R10 000 every month but the emails must stop. Every month you receive R10 000 and we will monitor the situation. If there is a truce, then we will pay you the balance upon being satisfied. Mr Carrim said we are not going anywhere, that is our offer.”
NYDA spokesperson Bongekile Skosana said this week that the board had received the allegations against Carrim and had instituted an independent legal due-diligence review to consider the veracity of the allegations.
“The NYDA board believes in procedural fairness in dealing with matters of this nature. The NYDA board believes whistle-blower protection is essential to safeguard the public interest and promote a culture of public accountability and integrity,” she said.
However, Skosana added: “The allegations levelled are unsubstantiated and unverified and not supported by any documentary evidence. The NYDA reserves its right to take legal action as the allegations at this stage amount to defamation of character.”
Meanwhile, the DA’S Youth wing is calling for the NYDA to be scrapped, saying it has failed to tackle challenges faced by young people and was also in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Party spokesperson Lindokuhle Sixabayi said the DA Youth was of the view that the NYDA was purely conceived to offer a lifeline to ANC Youth League members who failed to make it into Parliament, councils and legislatures. The board was “used as an ANCYL playground” and had failed to address issues facing young people such as unemployment.