INDEPENDENT MEDIA President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homeJohannesburg - The 11 Department of Public Works employees charged with flouting procurement procedures during the upgrade to President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead aren’t prepared to settle with the State by pleading guilty, their union says.
Last week, the director of projects, Itumeleng Molosi, was handed a two-month suspension without pay after pleading guilty to charges of “irregularity” in the appointment of contractors in the controversial R246 million project.
Molosi was given a final written warning, and was told to undergo retraining in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
Molosi, from Pretoria, served on the Department of Public Works bid adjudication committee. The Special Investigating Unit found that he and other officials had approved the appointment of the contractor, E Magubane cc, in June 2011. The contractor ended up receiving R2.2m more than his quoted figure.
Molosi was represented by the National Education and Health Workers Union, a Cosatu affiliate.
However, Claude Naiker, manager of the Public Servants Association KwaZulu-Natal, the union representing the remaining 11 accused, says they will plead not guilty.
“Our members are determined to let the internal disciplinary hearings go ahead. They do not fear anything at this stage and would want the process to continue so that they can prove their innocence.”
Although not privy to the specific charges Molosi faced, Naiker said should they be similar, the others could face the same punishment.
Department of Public Works spokesman Philip Masilo said the latest development did not change anything for the 11 employees, whose hearings were set to begin next month.
Different chairmen might reach different conclusions.
Independent political analyst Protas Madlala believes Molosi’s fall was a result of “implied pressure – the possible loss of his pension payout, a threat where it’s hard to blame any individual for having forced an employee’s hand”.
Madlala said it was time Zuma took responsibility and helped South Africa move forward. “The president must merely admit something went terribly wrong with the Nkandla upgrade. Looking for scapegoats will not make the issue disappear.
“He must stop being uphunyuka bemphethe (a perennially evasive person) and face up to serious breaches of public regulations.”
Sunday Independent
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