Youth league leader has record for theft

Shadrack Tlhaole, praise singer of Northern Cape ANC leader John Block (who is facing a criminal case), is a thief - and proud of it.

The Sunday Times has established that the Northern Cape ANC youth league leader has a criminal record. He was caught stealing a watch battery from a Shoprite store in his home town, Kuruman, in 1999.

Tlhaole is a vocal Block supporter who was widely criticised for branding prosecutions boss Menzi Simelane a "rented dog of a political conspiracy against our leader". Block faces a R112-million tender fraud charge that was, on Friday, postponed to February 2012.

This week it emerged that Tlhaole had misrepresented the facts of his conviction when he applied for the job of Northern Cape chairman of the National Youth Development Agency, a job that carries a salary of R650 000 a year.

Question marks also hang over his qualifications. In his CV submitted to the agency he claimed he had a matric certificate and tertiary qualifications from Unisa. But a check by Umalusi, the government body that certifies qualifications, found "no record" of his matric or Unisa qualifications.

The agency's CEO, Steven Ngobeni, told the Sunday Times on Friday the agency decided to "give (Tlhaole) a chance as it would with any other citizen" after he'd disclosed his conviction and told the board that he had paid a R300 fine and had his record expunged.

"The facts that he gave us were confirmed by a police clearance report," said Ngobeni.

But the "clearance report" he submitted shows he still has a criminal record for theft. He was sentenced to a R300 fine or three months' jail.

Ngobeni said concerns about Tlhaole's matric certificate and Unisa qualifications were not relevant. "Shadrack has an N4 certificate which is equivalent of more than a matric," he said. "The board had resolved that the minimum requirements (are) matric or relevant experience in youth development. Shadrack met both criteria/options."

Tlhaole confirmed he still has "a criminal record hanging over my head. I don't see any reason to remove that as it is part of my history. You can't be a leader and hide who you are."

The former municipal meter reader said his R650 000 salary at the agency was "peanuts" and dismissed concerns about his qualifications as mudslinging from political rivals. "I am not a fake. I am not a liar." He promised to send the Sunday Times his matric certificate, but failed to do so by the time of going to press.