JUSTIN ARENSTEIN and LEONARD NDZHUKULA, Nelspruit | Wednesday 10.00PM.
MPUMALANGA’S legislature ordered police to arrest the province’s former head of environmental affairs, Jabu Mahlongo, on Wednesday after he ignored a summons to testify before its portfolio committee on public accounts.
The order is the toughest disciplinary ruling yet against individuals who ignore subpoenas to testify before legislature oversight committees.
Mahlongo was recalled on Wednesday to explain why he irregularly advanced himself R19153 just before he was fired on mismanagement and possible corruption charges last year. The physical cheque went missing from departmental records after it was cashed but the Auditor General was able to trace the payment through bank records.
Mahlongo initially managed to stall the committee’s public hearing into the incident on Tuesday by insisting that he needed time to consult with finance officials and sacked environmental affairs MEC, David Mkhwanazi.
He also forced the committee to indefinitely postpone its hearings into the unauthorised and unexplained payment of over R19-million to “ghost” employees.
Committee chairman Hein Mentz recalled Mahlongo after receiving additional evidence against both Mahlongo and the department’s assistant director of finance, Jerry Mthethwa.
Mthethwa arrived for the hearings but was unable to explain why he paid himself a R13750 cash cheque using the Mpumalanga Parks Board as a facilitator. He was also unable to supply the committee with receipts substantiating an additional R2500 travel advance he claimed from the MPB.
The committee expressed outrage that Mthethwa regularly and unilaterally changed his title and job description when authorising cheques for the department. Cheques to the value of R309137 were irregularly authorised by Mthethwa, who signed them as departmental chief director, finance director and head of department.
“So what?” Mthethwa responded. “I was in reality the head of the finance section and the department’s accounting officer. I was told so verbally by my political head.”
Mthethwa conceded that he was officially only an assistant director. His former political head, Mkhwanazi, told the committee under cross-examination that Mthethwa had been “mentally disturbed” at the time due to a bad vehicle accident and may have been delusional. “The moment we realised he was unbalanced, we transferred him to our budgetary planning division to minimise his responsibilities,” said Mkhwanazi.
Mthethwa was ordered to submit all outstanding receipts for all personal or travel expenses that he had claimed by Thursday morning.
The committee also grilled chief executive for the Mpumalanga Parks Board, Alan Gray, on a R45000 payment to the provincial secretary of the African National Congress’s Youth League, James Nkambule. The payment was allegedly for community facilitation work but was unsubstantiated by progress reports, time sheets, travel logs or any other documentary evidence.
The Auditor General pointed out that Nkambule was a member of the MPB’s board of directors at the time.
Gray stressed that the work had been approved by the board but conceded that the payments were not properly motivated. — African Eye News Service