Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana’s department has stepped in to resolve a fallout between a major labour union and one of the government’s skills development agencies.
The department’s intervention comes hot on the heels of a decision by the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) to withdraw seven of its members from the board of Setasa, the sector education and training authority (Seta) for secondary agriculture.
The Setasa board consists of 10 members, each from organised labour and business. Fawu members claim several of their business counter- parts are currently under investigation by the Scorpions after an independent forensic probe conducted by the auditor general last year found that funds were missing from the Seta.
The Scorpions’ regional director, Gerhard Nel, could neither confirm nor deny the investigation.
In July the Mail & Guardian published details of the auditor general’s report, which painted a gloomy picture of widespread misconduct, poor management controls and failure to adhere to statutory obligation.
The auditor general found, among other things, that five members of the Setasa board had business interests in companies that benefited contractually from the Seta.
Setasa’s CEO Gerald Leith resigned in May last year after it was found that he played a crucial role in awarding a R1,1-million contract to a company in which he held shares.
The Seta, ranked by the department as one of the best performing in the country, has been operating without a CEO since Leith resigned. Another reason Fawu gave for its withdrawal was the unilateral decision by its business counterparts to appoint a former board member as the Seta’s new CEO.
In an apparent move to save the Seta from sinking, the department is said to be engaged in discussions with both Fawu and Setasa.
Sam Morotoba, the senior executive manager of Setas, said: ”There has been a lot of correspondence between the department, Fawu and Setasa.” He said Mdladlana was also party to the discussion.