A senior official at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been suspended on charges of fraud and wasteful expenditure of taxpayers’ money.
The CAA is responsible for air safety and reports to Minister of Transport Abdullah Omar. It has had ongoing problems with lapses in corporate governance over the past few years.
The accusations against KC Marobela, the CAA’s general manager for legal services who was suspended last year, have added to a growing list of management setbacks that have rocked the authority. It was in the spotlight last year after a Mail & Guardian investigation revealed allegations of irregularities and corruption against former CEO Trevor Abrahams. Abrahams’s contract ended last September and was not renewed by the CAA board after an internal disciplinary hearing found him guilty of corruption.
Seboseso Machobane, general manager responsible for infrastructure management and development, is the acting CEO and was responsible for Marobela’s suspension.
Aviation industry players claim Marobela’s suspension was orchestrated by senior CAA officials loyal to Abrahams. Marobela was one of the key witnesses who provided damning information to the disciplinary inquiry against Abrahams.
One CAA board member this week conceded that Marobela’s suspension may be ”a revenge of some sort against him”. However, he was quick to point out that Marobela’s ”track record of exposing alleged wrongdoings in the matter of Abrahams would not help him if, after a due process, he is found to have done something wrong himself”.
Marobela this week confirmed his suspension but said he had not received the charge sheet. He said he was told of his suspension a week or so ago while on leave. ”I will not comment further on the matter as that would be a breach of my employment contract,” Marobela said.
The M&G has, however, independently learned that Marobela is being probed for allegedly inflating a subsistence allowance on a recent business trip to Canada. He allegedly claimed a subsistence allowance for seven days, while only two were for official business.