'Shocked' Kebby Maphatsoe stripped of military veterans powers

10 June 2018 - 00:00 By ANDISIWE MAKINANA

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has clipped the wings of her deputy, Kebby Maphatsoe, removing his delegated powers as the political head of the military veterans department as it had become too "politicised" under his watch.
Mapisa-Nqakula made the shock announcement at the meeting of the portfolio committee on defence and military veterans in parliament this week.
Maphatsoe, a staunch supporter of former president Jacob Zuma, became the political head of the military veterans department when he was appointed deputy minister of defence and military veterans in 2014.
Mapisa-Nqakula said she had stripped Maphatsoe of his powers because she wanted to personally take responsibility for everything that happened in the defence portfolio, including the military veterans section.
"I have now withdrawn all the powers and delegations which were given to the deputy minister, not because there is a problem but because I want to be able to take responsibility and not hide behind a second party," she said.
Mapisa-Nqakula said she was acting because of challenges in the section and at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. The DA has alleged there is widespread mismanagement and corruption in the administration of the castle.
Mapisa-Nqakula has also recalled Lieutenant-General Derrick Mgwebi from retirement to act as the director-general of military veterans following the resignation of Max Ozinsky, who had been acting in the position for the past 20 months.
RESPECTED GENERAL
Mgwebi retired early this year after completing a two-year term as the force commander for the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Mapisa-Nqakula said she recalled the respected commander to troubleshoot a "crisis" in the veterans department, which she said had become too politicised.
She said she believed Mgwebi had the authority to return stability to the department.
"You know very well that ... military veterans is a highly charged political constituency. So when you deal with them sometimes it can be very difficult.
"What I do not want to say ... I also think that he [Ozinsky] was hounded out of the department precisely because of this highly charged and politicised environment."
Ozinsky had been acting director-general since October 2016 and brought the department its first-ever unqualified audit for the 2016-17 financial year.
CAUGHT BY SURPRISE
Maphatsoe said he was surprised when Mapisa-Nqakula sent him a note during a sitting of the National Assembly two weeks ago, informing him of the move.
"I was shocked that she wrote me a letter and not called me because we are in the same office," he told the Sunday Times.
Maphatsoe said he met the minister the following day and she explained her reasons for stripping him of his veterans oversight post.
He declined to discuss what the reasons were, but said he disagreed with the minister's reasons."I don't think she withdrew the powers because of something I have said or done. I did my work.
"From when I was appointed, I hit the ground running, including initiating investigations at the castle, when I picked up that there were problems there. I also submitted reports to the minister on the issues that were delegated to me," he said.
FUTURE ROLE IS MURKY
Maphatsoe said he believed he had done well in the veterans post, but it was the prerogative of the minister to make changes.
Asked about his future responsibilities as deputy minister, he said: "I will wait for her instruction."
Maphatsoe described his relationship with the minister as "professional".
He said infighting between senior officials in his department was tantamount to "a serious war", with some officials undermining him by reporting directly to Mapisa-Nqakula. He said he was optimistic that Mgwebi would stabilise the department.
Sources close to the issue say the differences between Mapisa-Nqakula and Maphatsoe arise from the fact that there are two Umkhonto weSizwe veterans structures, one headed by Maphatsoe and the other by the former head of the defence force, General Siphiwe Nyanda. The two men do not see eye to eye.
A veteran sympathetic to Mapisa-Nqakula said Maphatsoe's dual roles as president of the MK Military Veterans Association and deputy minister of veterans affairs created a conflict of interest...

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