Communications minister Solly Malatsi has taken a strong stance against poor governance and what he terms abuse of public funds at one of the entities under his department’s portfolio.
Yesterday, the minister announced the removal of two members from the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) board.
According to a statement from the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), the two board members are Daphne Kula-Rantho and Boitumelo Mabusela.
USAASA, which falls under the DCDT, was established to provide universal connectivity through government and private sector partnerships. It has also been involved in SA's multibillion-rand digital TV set-top box rollout.
In the statement, the minister says his decision is in a bid to restore stability and good governance at the entity.
Furthermore, it is in line with clause 13 of the Governance Agreement, in relation to section 83 of the Public Finance Management Act, which empowers the minister to dismiss board members due to financial misconduct.
“I have removed the individuals, who are currently employed as civil servants, for failing to obtain approval and provide evidence of permission from their employers to conduct additional remunerative work outside their official roles, as is required by law,” says Malatsi.
“Over the past few weeks, I have repeatedly engaged with both individuals and given them opportunities to submit evidence which would indicate they have upheld the prescripts of the law. However, they have failed to do so.
“I went further and engaged their employers to request proof of any approvals to earn additional renumeration, outside of their official roles. The responses indicate that no such approval was given. Prior to that, my predecessor Mondli Gungubele proactively pursued the same request but was not provided such.”
According to the ministry, the auditor-general has flagged that all board fees earned by the duo will be categorised as irregular expenditure and has indicated the DCDT should recover these monies. To date, the two individuals have collected R1 651 960.89 in board fees, to which they were not legally entitled.
Kula-Rantho is said to have received R1 288 966.87, from March 2021 to July 2024. Mabusela is said to have collected R362 994.02 in board fees from October 2023 to July 2024.
“We will not tolerate the abuse of public funds for the benefit of individuals who fail to uphold the laws of our country. I have instructed the director-general of the DCDT to immediately initiate processes to recover the money.
“At the same time, I have instructed the DCDT to work with the acting CEO of USAASA, Luyanda Ndlovu, to conduct an independent investigation into the veracity of allegations of abuse of state resources against another board member, Simphiwe Thobela.
“To restore stability and strengthen good governance at USAASA, which is entrusted to promote universal access and universal service to every woman, man and child across the length and breadth of South Africa, we will immediately initiate processes to replace the two board members,” concludes Malatsi.
Share