Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan is embroiled in a war of words with his now former spokesperson Sam Mkokeli over the department’s decision to institute a forensic investigation into whistle-blowers, which culminated in Mkokeli’s resignation.
Mkokeli resigned in dramatic fashion on Sunday after he expressed disagreement with the decision to launch an investigation into whistle-blowers accused of leaking confidential departmental information.
The department confirmed Mkokeli’s resignation late on Sunday night. In the statement, the department said the narrative that they were investigating whistle-blowers was not true. Rather, the investigations related to allegations of corruption, malfeasance and irregular appointments.
Mkokeli’s resignation came days after he challenged Gordhan over a decision to hire a forensic company to sniff out whistle-blowers who exposed the minister for appointing Nthabiseng Borotho as his chief of staff, allegedly without the requisite academic qualifications.
The forensic investigation was launched after newspaper reports in March that Borotho was appointed despite possessing only a matric certificate, while the R1.3m a year position requires at least a postgraduate university degree. Borotho was also accused of nepotism after she allegedly hired her sister and a cousin as a personal assistant and a driver respectively at the department’s offices in Cape Town.
Instead of investigating the allegations against Borotho, the department opted to hire forensic investigators Abacus Financial Crime Advisory, allegedly at a cost of R250,000, to smoke out the moles, a decision that has irked Mkokeli.
“He wants to know why the department has hired a forensic company to investigate the leak, instead of finding out if she indeed lied about her matric and is appointing relatives,” departmental sources said.
The unnamed sources in the department said Mkokeli felt it would be immoral and unethical for him to spin and defend a probe he did not support.
Sunday Times Daily understands that Abacus hadso far interviewed four people including Tshegofatso Motaung, the human resource chief director. Motaung has since been suspended but the department said this suspension related to the appointment of service providers.
Labelling it as a witch-hunt, insiders said this process was a waste of taxpayers’ money and showed that the allegations against Borotho were plausible.
“That for me is the main thing. It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money because if it was the allegation you’d check and defend it, but now if you want to cover up you look for the person who has leaked it. This whole thing is bizarre,” said an insider.
Mkokeli, through his attorney Clifford Levin, said whistle-blowers were an important part of democracy and that they should be protected at all cost.
“Pravin Gordhan was only recently the face our of our highest ethical and democratic ideals and we should never snuff out whistle-blowers in his name or right under his nose,” Mkokeli said. “Forensic investigations into whistle-blowers will create an environment of fear and dictatorship, exactly the things the ‘New Dawn’ was meant to replace.”
He said his advice that the department should rather release a statement denying the allegation fell on deaf ears.
“The allegations against the chief of staff are easy to rebut. The department should simply release to the public her CV and deny that she appointed her relatives.
“Instead of listening to my counsel, the DG prefers to refer to me as an internal critic, which is eerily similar to the ‘clever blacks’ tag many of us got during the Zuma days,” Mkokeli said.
Sunday Times Daily has also learnt that before tendering his resignation, Mkokeli raised a complaint against the “stunning incompetence” of the department’s chief of staff. Mkokeli confirmed the complaint and that Gordhan was “fully aware of my disdain for both incompetence and dishonesty”.
In a statement dated November 21, the department said it had begun to initiate internal processes, including forensic investigations, against departmental officials who have been implicated in allegations of irregular or unlawful conduct.
“As recent evidence and testimony to the Zondo commission of inquiry with respect to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have shown, the department was at the centre of the state capture project. The department became the subject of repeated political interference to weaken its institutional capability and its crucial functions of oversight over key strategic SOEs such as Transnet, Eskom, Denel and SAA.
“By the time the current administration assumed office, a number of internal investigations had been commissioned by the department into acts of corruption, malfeasance and irregular appointments.
“The department has now contracted several forensic investigations firms from a panel of approved service providers on the National Treasury central supplier database to investigate several matters, including tender irregularities, corruption, the irregular appointment of staff from other provinces, and the unlawful distribution of confidential government information.
“To date, some officials have been placed on precautionary suspension, while the services of others are being terminated due to non-performance.”
It said some “disgruntled officials” have “mounted a public campaign by portraying themselves as ‘whistle-blowers’ under the Protected Disclosures Act, and that they are being targeted by the department”.
The act is specific about how, and to whom disclosures can be made to have legal protection, said the department, adding that the law does not protect the malicious leaking of information for ulterior purposes.
“Allegations are again being advanced to the media that attack the chief of staff in the ministry of public enterprises, Ms Nthabiseng Borotho, her qualifications and her appointment. The DPE has dealt with these allegations in a public statement on March 7 2020. The same allegations regarding Ms Borotho are now resurfacing ...
“The DPE’s position in relation to these allegations has not changed. Ms Borotho is a committed and valuable resource for the department and her appointment was done with absolute compliance with public service requirements, regulations and the law.”
