Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
A spate of disciplinary actions against South African ambassadors abroad has sparked a major row in the Department of Foreign Affairs over the chastising of political appointees by lower-level civil service functionaries.
The Foreign Affairs Department has in the past few months instituted disciplinary action against five top diplomats, including heads of the country’s missions abroad, on charges including sexual harassment and fraud.
Senior foreign affairs officials, backed by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), are now challenging the disciplinary hearings against the diplomats on the grounds that they “flout” government policy on political appointees.
The foreign affairs officials also charge that the department’s labour relations division, headed by Thembile Joyini, does not have the necessary clout to haul ambassadors, and other political appointees, before disciplinary hearings.
Nehawu has said that it believes the charges against the ambassadors “have been orchestrated by the old guard, which is working within the foreign affairs department, to target our comrades and then charge them with bizarre cases such as sexual harassment”.
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said his department was aware of the concerns relating to the ambassadors, but that the department position is that political appointees are not immune to normal public service disciplinary actions, although Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Zulu is willing to revisit the matter.
The affected diplomats include NM Mashabane, ambassador in Indonesia; MM Phologane, ambassador in Ghana; Yusuf Saloojee, ambassador to the United Arab Emirates; S Govender, who is the first secretary (administration and consular) in Ireland; and Victor Mditshwa, formerly deputy head of South Africa’s mission in Zimbabwe.
Mditshwa was dismissed last year for allegedly submitting a fraudulent R300 claim. The case is currently on appeal. Mashabane, Govender, Phologane and Saloojee all face sexual harassment charges.
Nehawu regional spokesperson Mango Matekane said: “As you can see from the charges, this is a strategy of certain individuals in the department, mainly those from the apartheid regime, who are trying to destroy our comrades in senior positions. It is very bizarre that four senior comrades are charged with sexual harassment,” he said.
Nehawu says the action against the five senior diplomats has also exposed the lack of a “clear-cut policy within the department to deal with political appointees”.
The union has accused the department of irregularities during disciplinary processes: the department has gone ahead with disciplinary proceedings against Mashabane despite the union asking for the matter to be postponed.
One foreign affairs official also said that the charges against some of the ambassadors are so petty they do not warrant costly disciplinary actions.
The official also raised concerns about the alleged failure by the department to follow proper disciplinary procedures. He cited Mditshwa’s plight as a case in point.
The department allegedly failed to provide Mditshwa with documentation relating to his charges. The department allegedly also dispatched a team to Zimbabwe to coordinate the disciplinary hearing against Mditshwa instead of conducting the hearing in South Africa where Mditshwa had access to legal representation.
“There is a serious confusion about this matter. Senior government officials have undertaken to challenge the department and the minister to act on the matter as soon as possible,” said one senior official.
These revelations come in the wake of claims of poor relations between Zuma and her Director General, Sipho Pityana, who allegedly wants to leave the department before his contract expires in 2003.
One foreign affairs source said Zuma is rumoured to be looking for a female director general. The source also said Zuma apparently wants her foreign affairs chief director for central Africa, Lindiwe Zulu, to take over the position if Pityana quits.
Zulu and Zuma have a history together within the African National Congress Women’s League, the source said. “Zulu is believed to be very close to the minister. Many officials in the department are aware that even though the position of the director general is the [ultimate] decision of the president, Zuma would prefer that the position goes to a female and of course her first choice is well known.”
Mamoepa refused to discuss the alleged rift between Zuma and Pityana. On the ambassadors, Mamoepa said: “Diplomats become civil servants when they are appointed in the department. The position of the department is that anybody who is appointed to a position in the department whether through political processes or normal appointment system is subject to a performance agreement as per the Public Service Act. They are also subjected to the same obligation like any other member of the public service.”
Mamoepa added, however, that the department “will continue to engage the issue until the matter is resolved”. But, he said, “the engagement process does not mean that the minister condones misconduct”.