Parliament - Police Minister Nathi Nhleko has been accused of sleeping on the job after once again failing to inform and timeously seek Parliaments approval about Hawks head Lieutenant-General Berning Ntlemeza’s salary scale.
The official opposition said on Sunday that Nhleko’s decision to inform Parliament was triggered by the question sent to him last month.
He submitted his letter to Parliament only at the end of last month - more than a year after Ntlemeza was appointed.
DA MP Zakhele Mbhele said there was no doubt Nhleko’s letter was late.
He said the SAPS Act didn’t specify the deadline for Parliament’s approval, adding, however, that the minister acted only after being asked about it.
Nhleko’s letter to Speaker Baleka Mbete was published in Parliament on Friday.
It sought to have Ntlemeza’s salary of R1.6 million a year approved. This is more than a year after the cabinet appointed Ntlemeza.
In a similar blunder three weeks ago, Nhleko sought Parliament’s approval on Ntlemeza’s appointment, a year after he was appointed head of the Hawks.
Nhleko wanted condonation from Parliament on the appointment, which the DA had questioned.
The portfolio committee on police is to discuss the matter.
Nhleko had to seek Parliament’s approval within 14 days after the appointment in September last year, but the minister sent the letter a year after the appointment was made.
In it, he requested condonation and denied he was alerted by the opposition that Ntlemeza’s appointment was illegal as no approval was sought and received from Parliament.
In the latest episode, Nhleko sent the letter to Mbete after he had fielded questions in the National Assembly on the matter last week.
In his reply to Parliament, also last week, Nhleko said the salary was approved in line with the law and the concurrence of the finance minister and the cabinet.
Nhlanhla Nene was finance minister when Ntlemeza was appointed.
Nhleko said there was nothing illegal about the process that had been followed.
“The minister submitted the remuneration scale which has already been approved by the Department of Public Service and Administration to Parliament for approval,” he said.
“This is part of the process of publishing the said remuneration scale in the Government Gazette,” he said.
“While it is acknowledged that the SAPS Act requires the minister to place a notice of the remuneration scale payable to the head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in the Government Gazette, it must be pointed out that the act doesn’t prescribe the time frames at which such notice must be placed in the gazette,” said Nhleko.
Political Bureau