31 July 2024
The Gauteng Department of Social Development has been mired in problems related to the funding of non-profit organisations that deliver services to vulnerable people. Archive photo: Ihsaan Haffejee
More than six months since the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) suspended 13 officials, ten of the officials returned to work after the department failed to hold disciplinary hearings. Three officials are still suspended.
Three officials were suspended in September, one in December and nine in January. At the time, the department was under the leadership of MEC Mbali Hlophe and Head of Department Matilda Gasela.
In several advertorials paid for by the department, Hlophe said that the suspensions were a result of forensic audits of the department’s funding of non-profit organisations and part of her crackdown on corruption in the department.
But the forensic audit has yielded little evidence of corruption within organisations, with most of the organisations flagged by the investigation now cleared. The forensic audits caused catastrophic delays in the funding process, with hundreds of organisations waiting more than two months to receive their subsidies from the department.
Details of the charges against the officials have not been made public by the department, but Hlophe’s spokesperson Themba Gadebe has previously said the charges include “gross negligence and failure to perform duties”.
A preliminary hearing to extend the suspension and discuss preparatory matters was held in March, three independent sources confirmed to GroundUp. No further hearings were held and in May 2023, the chairperson of the disciplinary committee said that if no hearing was held within 60 days, the officials would return to work.
Another meeting was held in July, but the department was not ready to proceed. The 60 day deadline expired and ten officials resumed duties on Monday. They are expected to meet the disciplinary committee again in August.
GroundUp understands that the remaining three officials, who were suspended in September, are in arbitration with the department. The officials argue that they have not been given access to a copy of the forensic audit that supposedly implicated them.
Lebogang Lukhele, the spokesperson for the new MEC Faith Mazibuko, said in response to GroundUp’s questions that the matter is internal and she cannot disclose anything to the media. The spokesperson for the department, Motsamai Motlhaolwa, was asked the same questions but did not respond.