THE DEPARTMENT of Correctional Services has bought its Director General a luxury car although there are no such policy provisions for his post.

Correctional Services Commissioner Thomas Moyane, the highest paid DG in the government, was not only employed at an exorbitant salary, but was also given a bodyguard, a brand new BMW as his official car and, while waiting for the brand new car to arrive, an Audi Q7 was rented for him at the price of R3 000 per day, guzzling petrol worth about R1 000 a week.

The Q7 rental escalated to the tune of R37 564 for three weeks.

Moyane is currently driving a black BMW 530D worth an estimated R585 354 bought by the department and has a driver who is also his bodyguard.

Former Correctional Services commissioner Xoliswa Sibeko bought a car using state funds although this was not allowed.

An official who did not want to be named said: “The fact that Sibeko unlawfully bought a car using state funds when she was not supposed to, doesn’t mean Moyane must do the same.”

When Moyane reported in the office for the first time, the car that had been used by previous commissioner Sibeko had not been recovered from her.

The then acting commissioner Jenny Schreiner authorised car rental for Moyane for two days to enable him to execute his official duties.

When the Mercedes Benz E350 was recovered it had 12 000km on the clock and Moyane refused to use it, whining about its safety since Sibeko had kept it with her even after her contract was terminated.

Moyane allegedly asked for a replacement car.

Correctional Services Department spokesperson Manelisi Wolela said he was not at liberty to disclose reasons for Moyane’s refusal to use the old car, for “security reasons”.

According to correspondence between Phiko Mbambo Deputy Commissioner: Executive management and CFO ES Sokhela, a trade-in request was made to a Mercedes Benz dealership but it was declined.

However, BMW was willing to accept the car at a trade-in value of R350 000 and the department had to pay a difference of R235 000.

The correspondence further states that Moyane’s office did not have a budget for the extra costs incurred during the rental of the vehicle and the replacement car.

In a request for approval and guidance, Mbambo said the granting of approval by Schreiner to hire a vehicle was based on an understanding that once Sibeko had returned the car, the hired vehicle would be taken back and Moyane would then make use of the official vehicle.

Mbambo asked the CFO to approve an over-expenditure to allow Moyane’s office to cover the costs of renting and buying a car.

A request for the purchase of a new car was made but Sokhela refused to approve the procurement.

“This request does not give me the full picture of why the Department of Correctional Services opted for the Q7.”

Sokhela also questioned the notion that Moyane would be at risk if he used the car that was used by the previous commissioner.

“This request is very silent and does not give the full information. At this stage the CFO cannot approve this request,” Sokhela said in response.

Wolela insisted that Sokhela fully supported and signed the request, though he was told that The Sunday Independent was in possession of a document signed by Sokhela on June 21, 2010 in which he said the application was not approved.

“This claim is absolutely untrue because Sokhela as the CFO, fully supported and signed the submission,” Wolela said.

He said it was entirely incorrect to say that the department has overspent in order to buy Moyane a new car.

“Responding to security imperatives that necessitated the replacement of the previous car, the department traded in the previous car and had to pay only R235 000 to purchase the current one that was cheaper than the previous car,” Wolela said.

Wolela added: “Directors-general in the security cluster, because of the nature of their work which essentially is to ensure that the citizens of this country are safe, by deduction and through security risk assessments, have to be dealt with differently”.

He said security cluster DGs had to be provided with appropriate vehicles as is the case with previous and current heads of security cluster departments.

When he was asked to refer us to the relevant clauses as we could not find such provisions in the government gazette, the Correctional Services Act of 1998 and Public Services Act of 1994, he failed to do so.

Moyane is currently under investigation by the Public Protector with her boss, minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, for the alleged victimisation of employees.

Last year The Sunday Independent reported on Mapisa-Nqakula’s apparent generosity when she made Moyane the highest paid civil servant in the country.

Mapisa-Nqakula offered Moyane a package of R1 462 980 a year, whereas the cabinet had approved R1 298 980.

Minister of Public Service and Administration Richard Baloyi denied any wrongdoing in Moyane’s salary hike and launched an investigation which is still pending.

At the time, spokesmen for Mapisa-Nqakula and Baloyi concurred, in response to questions, that heads of departments in the security cluster were, in terms of the law, remunerated differently from the rest of the public service.

They failed to refer The Sunday Independent to the relevant clauses at the time of going to press. - Sunday Independent