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A former deputy provincial chairperson of the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) is being investigated by the Public Protector regarding an alleged jobs for pals scandal at the SA Council for Educators (Sace).
City Press can today reveal that Themba Ndhlovu, the strategy and stakeholder relations manager who also acts as Sace spokesperson, is one of the senior managers being investigated by Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s office.
Sources close to Sace said Ndhlovu and a few others – whose names are known to City Press – were appointed to their posts because they were Sadtu members and friends.
Ndhlovu was appointed to the Sace post in 2009 when he was the chairperson of the staffing committee at Sace and was on the interview panel.
The staffing committee is a subcommittee of Sace’s council dealing with staffing matters, including conditions of service, salaries, appointments and Sace administrative measures.
Ndhlovu declared this in a letter to the then Sace chief executive officer, Rej Brijraj, and said he would recuse himself from the interviewing panel for the post.
According to the vacancy requirements, a suitable candidate would have had a three-year tertiary qualification in the relevant field and a minimum of five years of managerial experience in the relevant or related field.
In the CV he submitted at the time, Ndhlovu stated he had a senior primary teacher’s diploma (1984-86), education management qualification (1990-91) and was studying towards a bachelor of arts degree.
When he applied for the post, he was also the principal (from 1996) of Igugulabasha Primary in Standerton, Sadtu provincial deputy chairperson in Mpumalanga and had been involved in community and Sadtu structures.
But he was up against a candidate, whose name is known to City Press, who had a three-year secondary teacher’s diploma, worked as a deputy manager for advocacy, information and communication in the health and social development department responsible for coordination of advocacy campaigns and outreach programmes, stakeholder relations management and development and implementation of communication and information technology strategies (from 2005 to 2008).
The candidate was a customer care manager at the SA Social Security Agency and had previously worked as a contract teacher.
He was in his final year of a bachelor degree in business administration, specialising in marketing and communications.
The candidate had also occupied leadership positions in the Congress of SA Students, the SA Student Congress and the ANC Youth League.
Sources said that in January last year, after the council had been served with questions by an investigator at Mkhwebane’s office in December 2016, it sought a meeting with the Department of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to address the issue.
City Press has seen a letter written by Brijraj to Motshekga in January last year requesting an “urgent meeting” with her about Mkhwebane’s office investigation at Sace.
“We hereby plead for [an] urgent meeting with you, at your earliest convenience, so as to [o]utline a series of events in 2016 that relate to the investigation; [b]rief you on the investigation and indicate the way forward for Sace; and [r]eceive your advice,” the letter stated.
Since then, sources alleged, the report had not been released despite the investigation having been completed.
Brijraj refused to comment and referred questions to Ndhlovu, saying he was no longer at Sace.
He retired in January last year.
Ndhlovu also said he could not comment as the matter was being investigated by the Public Protector.
“[T]he matters you raised are a subject of an investigation by the Public Protector and [I] am not in a position to comment on them currently,” Ndhlovu said.
Mkhwebane’s acting spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe, confirmed that the investigation had been completed.
“The report is being drafted, section 7(9) notices must still be issued to the affected parties and the report must still go through a quality assurance process. Under the circumstances, it is difficult to specify a date of release.”
Notices of representation are issued to individuals to defend themselves against potential adverse findings from Mkhwebane’s office.
Segalwe said notices, which could require a response in writing to issues raised by the office, had replaced provisional reports because they were prone to leaks.
He said the findings would be made in the final report.
Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said Motshekga had met the unions, which were part of the Sace council, “because they needed to be informed about the intention of the department to conduct an investigation of Sace”.
However, after learning about Mkhwebane’s office investigation, the department did not proceed with its own, said Mhlanga.
“The minister has no knowledge of any political influence made by any sources nor [of the] availability of any investigation report from the Public Protector,” he said.
The department got to know about the challenges in April 2016 when a whistle-blower sent a complaint containing allegations of “nepotism and irregular appointment of staff that are often not qualified in carrying out their duties” to the office of Deputy Basic Education Minister Enver Surty.
In November 2016, the department’s director-general, Mathanzima Mweli, wrote to Sadtu president Magope Maphila – Sadtu is the majority teachers’ union at Sace – detailing allegations of “endemic corruption” at Sace received by the department.
Mweli said the developments were of a “very serious nature” and indicated that he had convened a meeting with the presidents of teachers’ unions to brief them of its planned investigation.
Responding to Mweli’s letter at the time, Brijraj said a special executive committee had been convened on December 12 2016 to discuss Mweli’s letter to Maphila, and that the executive committee, on behalf of council, found there was no evidence of nepotism or irregular appointments.
Brijraj told Mweli the allegations were dealt with on November 22 2010 after they were raised by members of the National Health, Education and Allied Workers’ Union within Sace.
At the time, Brijraj said Sace had recommended a “cooling-off period for councillors wishing to apply for Sace vacancies”.
A former deputy provincial chairperson of SA Democratic Teacher’s Union (Sadtu) forms part of the investigation by Public Protector in jobs-for-pals scandal at SA Council for Educators (Sace).
City Press can today reveal that Themba Ndhlovu, strategy and stakeholder relations manager who also act as Sace spokesperson, is among senior managers investigated by Mkhwabane’s office.
Sources close to Sace told City Press that Ndhlovu and few others - whose names are known to City Press - were appointed to their posts because they were Sadtu members and friends.
Ndhlovu was appointed to the post in 2009 when he was the chairperson of Staffing Committee (Stafco) at Sace and formed part of the interview panel.
Stafco is a subcommittee of Sace council dealing with staffing matters, including conditions of service, salaries, appointments and Sace administrative measures.
Ndhlovu declared this in a letter to the then Sace chief executive officer Rej Brijraj and that he would recuse himself from the interviewing panel for the post.
According to the vacancy requirements, a suitable candidate would have had a three-year tertiary qualification in the relevant field and a minimum of five years’ managerial experience in the relevant or related field.
In his CV, which he submitted at the time, Ndhlovu
stated that he had a Senior Primary Teacher’s Diploma (1984 to 1986), Education Management qualification (1990-91) and was studying towards a Bachelor of Arts degree.
When he applied for the post he was also the principal (from 1996) of Igugulabasha Primary in Standerton, Sadtu provincial deputy chairperson - in Mpumalanga - and had been involved in community and Sadtu structures.
But, he was up against a candidate, whose name is known to City Press, who had a three-year Secondary Teacher’s Diploma, worked as a deputy manager for advocacy, information and communication in the Health and Social Development Department responsible for coordination of advocacy campaigns and outreach programmes, stakeholder relations management and development and implementation of communication and information technology strategies (from 2005 to 2008).
The candidate was a customer care manager at the SA Social Security Agency and had previously worked as a contract teacher.
He was also in his final year of a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, specialising in marketing and communications.
The candidate had also occupied leadership positions in the Congress of SA Students, SA Student Congress and the ANC Youth League.
Sources said in January 2017, after the council had been served with questions by an investigator at Mkhwebane’s office in December 2016, it sought a meeting with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) Minister Angie Motshekga to address the issue.
City Press has seen a letter written by Brijraj to Motshekga in January last year requesting an “urgent meeting” with her about Mkhwebane’s office investigation at Sace.
“We hereby plead for urgent meeting with you, at your earliest convenience, so as to [o]utline a series of events in 2016 that relate to the investigation; [b]rief you on the investigation and indicate the way forward for Sace; and [r]eceive your advice,” the letter stated.
Since then, sources alleged, the report had not been released despite the fact that the investigation had been completed.
Brijrat refused to comment and referred questions to Ndhlovu saying he was no longer at Sace.
He retired in January 2017.
Ndhlovu also said he could not comment as the matter was being investigated by the Public Protector.
“[T]he matters you raised are a subject of an investigation by the Public Protector and [I] am not in a position to comment on them currently,” Ndhlovu said.
Mkhwebane’s acting spokesperson Oupa Segalwe confirmed that the investigation has been completed. “The report is being drafted, section 7(9) notices must still be issued to the affected parties and the report must still go through a quality-assurance process. In the circumstances, it is difficult to specify a date of release.”
Notices of representation are issued to individuals to defend themselves against potential adverse findings from Mkhwebane’s office.
Segalwe said notices, which could require response in writing to issues raised by the office, had replaced provisional reports as they were prone to leaks.
He said the findings would be made in the final report.
DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said Motshekga only met with unions - which were part of the Sace Council “because they needed to be informed about the intention of the DBE to conduct an investigation of Sace”.
However, after learning about Mkhwebane’s office investigation, DBE did not proceed with its own, said Mhlanga.
“The Minister has no knowledge of any political influence made by any sources nor availability of any investigation report from the Public Protector,” he said.
DBE had only got heed of challenges in April 2016 when a whistle-blower sent a complaint containing allegations of “nepotism and irregular appointment of staff that are often not qualified in carrying out their duties” to the office of deputy Minister Enver Surty.
In November 2016, DBE director-general Matanzima Mweli wrote to Sadtu president Magope Maphila – Sadtu is a majority teachers union in Sace - detailing that allegations of “endemic corruption” at Sace received by the department.
Mweli said the developments were of “very serious nature” and indicated that he had convened a meeting with presidents of teacher unions to brief them on the DBE’s planned investigation.
Responding to Mweli’s letter at the time, Brijraj said a special executive committee had been convened on December 12, 2016 to discuss Mweli’s letter to Maphila and that the executive committee on behalf of council found there was no evidence of nepotism or irregular appointments.
Brijrat said to Mweli the allegations were dealt with on November 22, 2010 after they were raised by members of the National Health, Education and Allied Worker’s Union within Sace.
At the time, Brijraj said Sace recommended for a “cooling off period for councillors wishing to apply for Sace vacancies”.
