South African National Editors’ Forum’s Amina Frense says there is lack of government accountability to curb corruption on tender irregularities in the country as a whole.
Frense has pointed to the appointments of ANC Youth League members who are unqualified, to public hospital boards in Gauteng and SETA boards.
Frense has also accused the Minister of Higher Education Dr. Nobuhle Nkabane of perpetrating corruption.
“And you can link that corruption and cronyism to the appointments of ANC Youth League members who are unqualified to public hospitals boards in Gauteng. And link that to the scandal around the Minister of Higher Education, Nkabane, who doesn’t turn up for portfolio committee meeting. So, do we just carry on? Do we just do as we please?” says Frense.
She has emphasised the need for accountability and consequence management.
“This seems to be a total breakdown. The world’s worst if you want to call it, you know. It’s really not sustainable at all, and (there) needs to be accountability and consequence management,” she adds.
On Friday, Advocate Terry Motau told parliament that it would be incorrect for Dr Nkabane to say she misundertood that he (Motau) was not appointed as the chairperson of the Independent Panel for Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).
Advocate Motau was giving his version in parliament after Nkabane had named him as the chairperson of the independent panel that oversaw SETA board appointments.
Nkabane released the list of the 21 SETA board chairpersons after intense pressure from the public and the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training.
Motau said it would be inconceivable to believe that there was an error by Nkabane in this matter.
The minister and other individuals who were appointed as SETA board chairpersons before their names were withdrawn were called to appear before the committee to explain their involvement in the saga.
However, the minister sent an apology and requested to appear next week.
Advocate Motau said it could never be reasonable to believe that Nkabane had made a mistake about his non-appointment as the chair of the panel.
“I said in my case, given the events of the 15th and 16th which is the minister knew that I was not appointed and that there was no attorney that formalised the process. When the minister said on the 17th after the conservation … after the letter that I was appointed and I chaired, you can at least take away three things from there; firstly, there is no mistake that was made by the minister. That was is clear; two, there is no misunderstanding at the end of the conservation on the 17th, but before the disclosure to parliament. There is no misunderstanding about whether I have been appointed or not; whether there was a need to formalise my appointment through an attorney. All those had been clarified prior to that,” says Motau.
However, while Motau has confirmed that Nkabane misled Parliament, he is says he’s unable to conclude that she at the same time lied about his appointment.
Nkabane is expected to appear before the committee this week.
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