A senior Eastern Cape government official suspended in 2005 for alleged corruption and bribery has been hired to oversee all social-grant payments in the province, the Herald Online reported on Thursday.
The January 1 appointment of Khaliphile Mabhentsela as Eastern Cape acting regional executive manager of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has been widely condemned.
Former superintendent general of the province’s social development department, Mabhentsela quit in 2005 after being suspended by provincial minister Thoko Xasa for alleged serious irregularities under his leadership.
Charges against him included irregular appointments, corrupt practices and bribery.
Also suspended were chief financial officer Jackson Mbawuli and corporate services chief director Welile Payi.
Mabhentsela resigned before his disciplinary hearing and his subsequent urgent application to be reinstated was dismissed by the Bhisho High Court, said social development spokesperson Phumlani Mdolomba.
He emphasised that Mabhentsela was not forced to leave the department and would not comment on his new appointment, explaining that Sassa was an independent entity, even though it worked closed with the department in overseeing social-grant payments.
Mabhentsela would be accountable to Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya and not the provincial minister in his new post.
Public Service Accountability Monitor researcher Chantelle de Nobrega said that legislation provided that officials were deemed to have been dismissed even if they resigned before hearings into disciplinary charges against them.
Sassa should explain its justification for appointing him, given his previous employment record, she said.
Democratic Alliance social development spokesperson Donald Smiles said it was disappointing that Sassa had appointed someone who had resigned under controversial circumstances.
However, United Democratic Movement spokesperson Max Mhlathi said the party had no problem with the appointment as Mabhentsela had not been found guilty.
The suspension had been about holding him responsible for what Payi and Mbawuli had done.
”I have no doubt Mabhentsela has the capability to do the job,” Mhlathi said. — Sapa