How to pray on tax money
Nearly R450 000 of taxpayers’ money was irregularly used to pay for estate agents’ unauthorised prayer trip to Ghana and the aftermath.
Report says ‘Kingdom Mindset’ of no benefit – but no action taken to get money back.
The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) paid over R80 000 for a manager and a board member to attend a conference to learn “to please God” in Accra, Ghana, with a further R363 000 paid to lawyers for disciplinary proceedings which led to no action against the perpetrators.
An independent investigation into the trip, not approved by the board and taken despite a moratorium on international travel, concluded it had no benefit for the entity but ended up costing the taxpayer nearly R450 000.
This included advocates’ fees for the disciplinary proceedings, including that of the entity’s then acting boss, Nikita Sigaba, who was fired last year for irregularly approving the trip.
Disgruntled staff have questioned the lack of action against chair of the transformation committee and board member Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw for attending a conference hosted by a “Christian-based” institution in Ghana between 12 and 17 March 2018.
This despite the board’s recommendation to then human settlements minister Nomaindia Mfeketo that action be taken against Kula-Ameyaw and that she pay back the money for the trip.
Accompanying her was the entity’s transformation manager, Mandisa Shirries.
According to the report of an independent investigation into the trip, the objective of the course attended by the duo was for a “Kingdom Mindset”, with presentations on topics including “12 gates of the soul” and “pillars that govern self-belief system”.
The report further read that a Kingdom Mindset indicated “having a kingdom mindset is absolutely necessary if we want to live a life pleasing to God”.
The investigation concluded that the conference had no benefit to the EAAB, which regulates the estate agency profession, and that no report of the trip had been tabled and discussed at the transformation committee.
“We could not identify specific elements in the conference that were directly linked to the real estate industry… the objective of the course and (terms of reference) of the transformation committee indicates that it is difficult to draw direct parallels… We thus conclude that the expenditure incurred also meets the definition of fruitless and wasteful expenditure,” the report said.
A senior staff member, who did not want to be named, said nothing had been done, though the matter was finalised last year, with clear recommendations.
“This report was submitted to the department [human settlements] in April last year... nine months later and no action, no pay back the money. Why is there no action, though so much money has been paid?” the staffer asked.
Kula-Ameyaw defended the trip, saying it was not illegal and was condoned by the board as per the 2018-19 audited financial statements in the annual report.
She said bringing this matter up was part of a strategy by the current chief executive officer, Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi, which she claimed included suing her for defamation of character to derail the board and Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s investigation.
She said she had her own ticket to attend but arrangements were made by the EAAB for them to attend the “Transformation and Nation Building” since it was aligned to her function as the transformation chair.
“Is it not strange that the board tried to use the same issues to remove me because I wrote to the minister on 5 October 2019, about the CEO violations? There is a document exposing that secret plan by the CEO using the board to remove [me] from the board, so when they realise they don’t have power now media court is used,” she replied in a series of WhatsApp messages.