Former education administrator Anis Karodia claims he received a redeployment letter and was not fired from the Limpopo department of basic education by Angie Motshekga.
"I wish to place on record that I was never fired," Karodia told eNews on Tuesday.
"I was requested to be redeployed and I have a letter to prove it."
He was responding to an open letter by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga in which she denied lying about firing him.
Karodia declined to comment on the matter to Sapa.
"Dr Karodia is no longer head of the intervention team because of the instructions that I gave that he be removed. Dr Karodia did not leave Limpopo out of his free will."
She said Karodia was not a "fall guy", and that at a briefing in Limpopo, she accepted responsibility for the "textbook problem".
Karodia and Motshekga apparently agreed not to speak publicly about the reasons behind his removal.
The City Press reported on June 24 that Motshekga blamed Karodia for the department's failure to deliver textbooks to Limpopo pupils.
"Motshekga must apologise to me and speak the truth to the public," Karodia told the newspaper.
"She must clear my name and speak the truth." – Sapa