The Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA) has placed its CEO Mdu Zakwe on “precautionary suspension”.
In a statement issued to ITWeb this morning, the MICT SETA says Zakwe has been placed on precautionary suspension pending a recent investigation.
This after a source told ITWeb about the suspension. However, MICT SETA did not specify the nature of the investigation.
Nonetheless, according to the organisation, the decision to suspend Zakwe was taken by the board on 1 March 2021.
Zakwe was appointed on 1 April 2019, replacing Oupa Mopaki, who was shown the exit following corruption allegations against him the previous year.
Mopaki was alleged to have been involved in corrupt and fraudulent activities that saw the entity lose millions to companies in which he had personal interest, which benefited from tenders.
MICT SETA is a skills development institution established in terms of the Skills Development Act of 1998, with a mission to generate, facilitate and accelerate the processes of quality skills development at all levels in the MICT sector in South Africa.
Following his appointment, Zakwe, in an exclusive interview with ITWeb, said his number one agenda was to overhaul the corruption-tainted organisation.
He said he was looking to overhaul MICT SETA's core processes to ensure corruption was going to be a thing of the past at the organisation.
"We will be looking at all our processes. Every manager has come to my office and we have discussed their business processes and, with them, we have identified process deficiencies and we had a mutual agreement that we have to overhaul our processes,” he said at the time.
Now the organisation says Zakwe will immediately proceed on compulsory leave to give room for the investigation.
Says MICT SETA: “The suspension is not a presumption of guilt on any individual but is merely intended to provide the necessary space to deal with the investigation appropriately.”
Furthermore, it says the board has appointed Matome Madibana as acting CEO, to take over the day-to-day operations of the SETA with immediate effect.
“The board and management team of the MICT SETA are committed to ensuring business continuity that reinforces leadership and the performance of the organisation,” says chairperson of the board Simphiwe Thobela.
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