More woes for Xingwana

Like a leaking tap wasting water the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities has depleted its coffers on overtime payments, staff relocation costs, salary increases and recruiting "unqualified personnel".

While Minister Lulu Xingwana has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons this month, an investigation into her department by Fluxmans Attorneys has uncovered more rot.

Xingwana commissioned the firm of labour lawyers to investigate allegations of nepotism, fraud and mismanagement within the department.

The findings were shocking. Seven staff members - three directors, an assistant director, a driver, a manager and an assistant - were found to be unfit for their jobs.

In fact the report, dated July last year, concluded that the panellists involved in the recruitment process had little or no understanding of the criteria that a candidate for the job was required to have.

Investigators mentioned a driver-cum-messenger who got the job despite having a criminal record and no matric qualification.

He beat a candidate who had Grade 12, a code 10 driver's licence, a public driving permit and was computer-literate.

More than R85000 was spent to relocate an administrative officer from Eastern Cape to Pretoria and then put her up at a hotel for 31 days at almost R1000 a day.

A registry clerk also moved from another province to Pretoria. Her hotel bill alone came to R68000.

"Candidates with these skills could have easily been sourced within the [Gauteng] province. Such expenditure on relocation costs for lower-level positions cannot be justified," the report said.

Then came the issue of "clear abuse of overtime" payments.

An assistant to a personal secretary was paid thousands in the 2011-2012 financial year. "We have been unable to establish the basis upon which the overtime of R180000 was approved as a blanket amount [and] the reasons for such overtime having being worked."

The taking of leave was another nail in the coffin. The report found that the human resources department "did not have any idea" when employees were supposed to return to work from sick, family responsibility, annual and study leave.

Investigators did not probe all employees and they felt there might "be further irregularities in other appointments".

This week, Xingwana said a driver, a director and a chief director have already been dismissed, while disciplinary hearings against a director and a chief director were under way.

DA MP Helen Lamoela said Xingwana must go. "In Afrikaans we have a saying: 'n Vis vrot van sy kop' [a fish starts rotting from its head] and that is why I have called for Xingwana's head. She was supposed to oversee, as minister, that the department delivers," she said.

Lamoela also objected to the manner in which documentation on the department's turnaround strategy was served on parliament on Wednesday morning.

"The department has to date received over R500-million and has nothing to show for it except lavish parties, flights to expensive conferences and seminars all around the world, and designer furniture."