Question NW4186 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration
02 January 2024 - NW4186
Bond, Mr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)(a) What (i) are the reasons that a certain person (name furnished) was transferred to her department at the beginning of November 2023 and (ii) offence was the specified person charged with and found guilty at the Department of Human Settlements and (b) on what grounds did her department agree to the transfer despite the scathing 2021 Labour Court judgment and her department being the custodian of ethical standards and conduct; (2) what (a) are the reasons that the specified person was transferred into the post of Deputy Director of Performance Management and Development System when there is a current job dispute by an unlawfully terminated employee in the same post and (b) were the conditions of the specified person’s demotion from Chief Director to Deputy Director; (3) whether corruption is a dismissible offence in terms of her department’s consequence management policy; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are reasons that the specified person not dismissed for dishonesty and corruption?
Reply:
1. (a) (i) The employee was transferred to perform the functions of the Deputy Director: Performance Management and Skills Development.
(ii) The information and details of the misconduct which arose at the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) has not been submitted to the DPSA from the DHS.
(b) The Department managed the transfer in terms of section 14 of the Public Service Act which does not preclude the transfer of employees who have been subjected to discipline and/or found guilty.
2. (a) The post of Deputy Director: Performance Management and Skills Development was a vacant and funded post and the dispute by an employee does not preclude the filling of the post.
(b) The employee was subjected to a disciplinary process and the outcome thereof was a demotion from a Chief Director position to Deputy Director.
3. Employees found guilty of corruption should be dismissed. Misconduct is managed in terms of the relevant Disciplinary Code applicable in the public service. The sanctions in respect of guilty findings are determined by relevant chairpersons presiding over the disciplinary process.
End