The Gauteng Department of Social Development is yet again under the spotlight as it reinstated 13 suspended officials without disciplinary action.
The officials were suspended after the then MEC Mbali Hlophe instituted an investigation which resulted in the suspension of these officials alleged to be connected to corrupt activities together with some NPOs.
Some of these officials and NPOs were referred to the Hawks for criminal prosecution over fraudulent transactions.
With a budget of R2.3 billion allocated to NPOs annually, the department’s NPO budget is the highest of all provinces, even far exceeding the National Lottery as a national funding entity.
In a recent statement the DA “demanded answers as to why 13 suspended officials have returned to work at the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) without being subjected to a disciplinary process”.
Their “secret return highlights the absence of transparency and fairness in the department”, the DA said.
Interestingly, the suspended 13 officials were brought back a month after MEC Hlophe was sacked and replaced with MEC Faith Mazibuko, the former MEC for Community Safety.
A source in the department, who preferred not to be named, said “some among the 13 suspended officials had boasted that they would return as their suspensions would be lifted, as MEC Hlophe was going to be removed for pursuing their case”.
“Unlike previous MECs who turned a blind eye to the many forensic investigations dating as far back as 2016, she was stubborn and refused to let sleeping dogs to lie.”
Asked if she was aware of rumours to remove her, the former MEC confirmed that “as far back as January, a few months before the elections”, she became aware of talks of her removal.
“The investigations we dealt with created a very difficult environment to work in, resulting in a pushback and downing of tools by some of the officials aligned to the suspended officials or part of their network, resulting in non-performance and under-expenditure on some targets,” Hlophe said.
“While on the other hand, you had another group of officials who welcomed that action was finally being taken.
“Nonetheless despite the challenges, working together with those committed to their work, we still managed to score 82% on the department’s overall Annual Performance Plan (APP), which is the highest performance in five years. And 83% on the Delivery Agreement signed with the Premier,” Hlophe said.
According to the DA statement, the suspended “include chief directors, directors, and regional managers, who were suspended in September 2023 for their alleged involvement in corrupt procurement processes”.
The DA said it will be submitting questions to Mazibuko to ascertain “the exact reasons behind the return of the suspended officials, the duration of each official's suspension, how many have undergone disciplinary hearings, and the outcomes of those hearings”.
MEC Mazibuko is not new to the Department of Social Development and previously served as an MEC from May 23, 2014 to October 21, 2015.
In 2016, a forensic investigation, detailing corrupt activities of the previous years, made damning recommendations against some of the suspended officials and NPOs.
The named officials appear in other forensic investigations that were later conducted, and as things stand, they are currently back at work with no disciplinary action taken against them.
Attempts to contact departmental spokesperson, Motsamai Motlhaolwa, were unsuccessful at the time of print.
The Star