Johannesburg - The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) on Monday said it was concerned by the departure of acting South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) CEO Thokozani Magwaza.
This after reports emerged that Magwaza had been fired by Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.
In a statement Dlamini’s spokesperson Lumka Oliphant confirmed the axing of Magwaza.
“The Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini and the CEO of Sassa, Mr Thokozani Magwaza, have agreed to terminate the services of the latter after a consultative process led by the head of legal services, advocate Nkosinathi Dladla, in terms of the provisions of his contract of employment,” said Oliphant.
Outa in a statement said it was saddened by the removal of yet another ethical person.
“We read into this development that he was pushed out after his work environment was made unbearable with death threats, the tension with minister Dlamini, Magwaza’s closure of the minister’s lucrative workstreams and his attempts to get the Post Office to take over the social grants delivery,” said Outa's portfolio director Dominique Msibi.
“Once again, as in many state entities, a hard-working ethical person has been removed. We trust that his good work will not be undone and that his replacement will work equally hard to address the maladministration and corruption within the social grants system.”
Outa also condemned the alleged death threats against Magwaza and called on authorities to investigate this.
Speaking of Magwaza’s replacement, Outa said it hoped the department would not appoint “a compliant stooge who will simply go along with the minister’s original intention to have the social grants distributed at huge cost by a well-connected company, thereby paving the way for further looting”.