Rail safety boss sidelined for suspect appointments
Railway Safety Regulator CEO Nkululeko Poya has been placed on "precautionary suspension" amid allegations of appointing unqualified senior managers.
Poya was served with a suspension letter on November 30 after Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi was handed a damning forensic report commissioned by the state-owned entity's board in September last year.
The board appointed forensic company Audit Risk Management Solutions to investigate after allegations of irregularities were made by whistleblower Lubabalo Seleka to former transport minister Ben Martins and the public protector's office.The regulator is responsible for issuing and managing safety permits and for investigating railway accidents, among other things.
The investigation said Poya should be held responsible for appointing former ANC MP Hargreaves Magama in 2015 as a senior manager in international relations at an annual salary of R935,850. Magama does not have a matric.
"We found that Mr Magama does not have a matric certificate," says the report by lawyer Boreka Motlanthe of Audit Risk Management Solutions.
"The only qualification [he] has is a master trainer certificate for voter education that he obtained from the Independent Electoral Commission."
The investigators also recommended that Poya be held accountable for making "declarations and not recusing" himself in interview panels and making appointments for positions that had not been advertised...
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