Question NW1408 to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

Reply:

(a ) Former Minister L. Sisulu commissioned two reports by Independent entities. One report looked at matters relating to irregular expenditure in the Department. This report was done by a company named Open Waters. A second report compiled by a panel led by former Justice Minister, B. Mabandla focused on matters related to organisational culture. This included looking at matters related to allegations of sexual harassment and allegations related to human resource management.

(b) The Open Waters report identified breaches in financial management but arrived at conclusions and recommendations that were not consistent with the findings. The second report made recommendations related to improving overall management and leadership in the Department. Based on the recommendations that were not aligned with the findings from the Open Waters Report, I will be appointing an external team to assess whether the findings in the report do not warrant further investigation, including a more thorough forensic investigation in some areas. The recommendations that will emanate from this report will allow me to complement measures related to improving leadership and management issues that emerged from the report compiled by the team led by Ms. Mabandla. This team will use the findings in the two reports mentioned above as the basis for further investigation and recommendations. The findings in both reports will have to be treated as draft findings at this stage given the need for further investigations. Given that these are draft finding, no action is proposed until the team that I will appoint completes the process initiated by my predecessor.