The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says it is planning to investigate the troubled National Skills Fund which has failed to account for R5bn over the past two financial years.
This comes just months after a similar probe was conducted by a private forensic company, Nexus, and amid another investigation, a criminal probe by the Hawks.
The fund is a public entity established to provide funding for skills development initiatives.
SIU head Andy Mothibi told parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday the unit had already drafted a proclamation which has to be approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mothibi said the unit had informed justice minister Ronald Lamola and director-general advocate Doctor Mashabane it was drawing up a proclamation.
Lamola’s department has to forward the proclamation to the presidency, where it should be signed and gazetted before the investigation can commence.
“We have determined that there is a basis for the SIU to investigate. We have drafted a proclamation and it is in the process of landing in the president’s office,” said Mothibi.
On the strength of the Nexus forensic report, a number of the fund’s officials have been suspended.
But Mothibi told Scopa the Nexus investigation did not possess statutory powers of investigation and was hamstrung in its efforts to conduct a comprehensive investigation which would have yielded forensic evidence that could be used for purposes of litigation to recover money and other purposes.
Its report also raised issues (limitations) around access to information such as bank statements.
Mothibi said before making the decision to investigate the entity, the SIU considered a presentation to Scopa by the higher education department and the Nexus report which said further investigations were required.
They also obtained an AG’s report and the final management reports in relation to the fund which were dated March 31 2020, March 31 2021 and March 31 2022.
“This is among others the information that we indicate in the proclamation we have looked at and therefore came to a finding that there is further investigation that needs to be done.”
Mothibi explained that the Hawks investigation would not be an impediment to the SIU’s proposed investigation as the Hawks probe was criminal and the unit wanted to investigate maladministration and malpractice.
Scopa called for a forensic investigation into the NSF after the entity received a disclaimer audit opinion in the 2020/21 financial year, its third in a row with the auditor-general saying at the time R2.5bn could not be accounted for.
“It means that they could not provide us with evidence for most of the amounts and disclosures in their financial statements. As a result, we could not express an opinion on whether the financial statements were credible,” the AG said in the 2020/21 Public Finance Management Act report.
The committee proposed the SIU investigate possible maladministration. But while it was still working on the modalities of the investigation, higher education minister Blade Nzimande appointed Nexus to conduct the investigation.
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SIU to probe the National Skills Fund
Image: Veli Nhlapo
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says it is planning to investigate the troubled National Skills Fund which has failed to account for R5bn over the past two financial years.
This comes just months after a similar probe was conducted by a private forensic company, Nexus, and amid another investigation, a criminal probe by the Hawks.
The fund is a public entity established to provide funding for skills development initiatives.
SIU head Andy Mothibi told parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday the unit had already drafted a proclamation which has to be approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mothibi said the unit had informed justice minister Ronald Lamola and director-general advocate Doctor Mashabane it was drawing up a proclamation.
Lamola’s department has to forward the proclamation to the presidency, where it should be signed and gazetted before the investigation can commence.
“We have determined that there is a basis for the SIU to investigate. We have drafted a proclamation and it is in the process of landing in the president’s office,” said Mothibi.
On the strength of the Nexus forensic report, a number of the fund’s officials have been suspended.
But Mothibi told Scopa the Nexus investigation did not possess statutory powers of investigation and was hamstrung in its efforts to conduct a comprehensive investigation which would have yielded forensic evidence that could be used for purposes of litigation to recover money and other purposes.
Its report also raised issues (limitations) around access to information such as bank statements.
Mothibi said before making the decision to investigate the entity, the SIU considered a presentation to Scopa by the higher education department and the Nexus report which said further investigations were required.
They also obtained an AG’s report and the final management reports in relation to the fund which were dated March 31 2020, March 31 2021 and March 31 2022.
“This is among others the information that we indicate in the proclamation we have looked at and therefore came to a finding that there is further investigation that needs to be done.”
Mothibi explained that the Hawks investigation would not be an impediment to the SIU’s proposed investigation as the Hawks probe was criminal and the unit wanted to investigate maladministration and malpractice.
Scopa called for a forensic investigation into the NSF after the entity received a disclaimer audit opinion in the 2020/21 financial year, its third in a row with the auditor-general saying at the time R2.5bn could not be accounted for.
“It means that they could not provide us with evidence for most of the amounts and disclosures in their financial statements. As a result, we could not express an opinion on whether the financial statements were credible,” the AG said in the 2020/21 Public Finance Management Act report.
The committee proposed the SIU investigate possible maladministration. But while it was still working on the modalities of the investigation, higher education minister Blade Nzimande appointed Nexus to conduct the investigation.
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