Johannesburg - Deputy Correctional Services Minister Thabang Makwetla has come out, guns blazing, to respond to allegations of his abusing his entertainment allowance, indirectly accusing department officials of leaking the story to The Sunday Independent.
In a statement tinged with scorn for his internal critics, Makwetla said he welcomed the initiative by officials in the Department of Correctional Services whom he says “leaked” documentation to the newspaper.
In the statement issued through his office, Makwetla says: “Indeed the administrative challenges and shortcomings in the (department) must be overcome, and overcome soon.”
It was in the same spirit and sense of concern that the deputy minister noticed an overpayment of more than R240 000 on his back-dated salary increase. The sum had been lying in his account for more than two months.
“It is unfortunate that the concerned whistle-blower did not notice this much bigger and outrageous irregular payment which the deputy minister took up with the department to ensure that it was reversed,” says the statement.
“Pertaining to the refunds it is strange that the whistle-blower seems not to be aware that the alleged failure is not the deputy minister’s fault.
“As a matter of principle, (Makwetla) submits bills for refreshments to the department to be processed and reimbursed in accordance with the applicable policy rules and guidelines.”
In conclusion, Makwetla adds another punch: “We need more genuine whistle-blowers assisted by ethical journalists to achieve a clean, transparent and responsible popular government.
“The record of (Correctional Services as) a department that has not attained a clean audit since April 1, 2000 must be obliterated.
“The shenanigans of rogue and intransigent managers must be uprooted. No amount of smoke and mirrors should be allowed to shield the irregularities and abuses of public resources placed at the disposal of the (department) every financial year. To this end, the deputy minister will not be deterred.”
After Makwetla’s statement, the Department of Correctional Services took the unusual step of sending several official statements to The Sunday Independent, then withdrew one after the other.
The Sunday Independent reported on March 27 that an internal audit unit of the Department of Correctional Services had highlighted in a letter on February 4 that between February last year and January Makwetla had claimed R225 199 for meals against his entertainment allowance. Of this amount, R50 146 was for alcoholic beverages.
It has since been established that the matter had been raised by the auditor-general in an interim report, rather than the internal audit unit.
We have established that Makwetla has held several meetings about the issue with Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha in the past two weeks.
Makwetla’s spokesman, Ntime Skhosana, said: “Deputy Minister Makwetla regularly holds meetings with DC (Correctional Services) officials. In this case they were just trying to put the issues in perspective because this was not a finding by the auditor-general’s office. You will not find it in the auditor-general’s final report.”
Skhosana said the article gave the wrong impression that Makwetla could have been spending more on alcohol than on meals in some of his claims.
However, documents seen by The Sunday Independent show that, in one instance, 67 percent of a R2 077 bill was spent on alcohol. On more than six occasions, the bill for alcohol was more than 50 percent of the bill - and even 83 percent on April 7 last year.
Other documents seen by The Sunday Independent show that between March and May last year Makwetla claimed at least R13 053.99 for alcoholic beverages. The Department of Correctional Services said this week it “noted the issues raised in the article, and commissioned an investigation into the matter, in particular any responsibility on the part of officials submitting and/or approving claims.”
It said it “takes the matter seriously”. However, it wished “to correct the statement made in the article that the issue was raised by the internal audit unit; in fact, the matter was raised by the auditor-general in an interim report.”
An engagement with officials at the auditor-general’s office confirmed that the matter was not raised as a finding but rather “as an awareness exercise”.
The department was “committed to strengthening internal controls and compliance measures with applicable policies and regulation of the public services, while also ensuring that administrators responsible for processing claims of political office-bearers also act in line with applicable regulations.”
However, the department did a somersault in a follow-up statement, apparently after discussing the initial statement with Makwetla. The statement now took aim at The Sunday Independent.
“The office of the national commissioner has found the recent article published by The Sunday Independent, which created the impression that the deputy minister was guilty of wrongdoing, regrettable.
“The national commissioner is concerned whenever such allegations are raised and is looking into all such allegations, to strengthen its internal controls.”
Sunday Independent