Africa-Press – South-Africa. Four senior managers in the Department of Military Veterans have been placed on “precautionary suspension” as the department intensifies its investigation into irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
The department said the Director-General of the Department, Irene Mpolweni, was exercising her authority as accounting officer to implement consequence management as required by the Public Service Commission.
In a media briefing held on Tuesday, the Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Thabang Makwetla, said the suspended officials have also been informed that the Department will appoint service providers to commence with the investigations.
“The service provider will also be appointed to attend to the implementation of the findings and recommendations of the investigation,” he said.
Makwetla said that in dealing with this matter expeditiously and efficiently, the Department intended to adhere strictly to the prescribed 60-day period to bring the investigations to finality.
The four suspended managers would remain suspended until the outcome of the investigations.
“The decision of the Director-General to place these senior managers under precautionary suspension is also intended to respond to the demands of consequence management as required by the Public Service Commission,” Makwetla said.
He explained that the Public Service Commission wrote to the then Acting Director-General Lt. Gen. Mgwebi last month, requesting him to provide information on consequence management in respect of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure by the department.
He said the Public Service Commission noted that in the Annual Report for the 2019/2020 financial year, the Department reported irregular expenditure amounting to R119 002 000 and fruitless and wasteful expenditure to the tune of R5 084 000.
The Public Service Commission also made the point that reports on financial misconduct submitted by the Department for the year 2019/2020 financial year to the PSC “does not reflect whether consequence management was or will be imposed against the perpetrators that committed irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure”.
Makwetla said the Public Service Commission and the Director-General of the Department of Military Veterans agreed to collaborate to overcome the challenges facing the Department.
Political Bureau
