Question NW755 to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans

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02 May 2017 - NW755

Profile picture: Marais, Mr S

Marais, Mr S to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans

In view of reports that a certain person (name and details furnished) was suspended and eventually exonerated of all wrongdoing following a disciplinary hearing, (a) why has the specified person not yet been reinstated into the SA National Defence Force and/or her department, (b) what has been the subsequent impact on the workload and the required performance of the Office of the Secretary of Defence, (c) why should the expense of almost R3 million that the person has received as remuneration not be viewed as wasteful expenditure and (d) what steps has she taken to (i) rectify the situation and (ii) prevent it from happening again?

Reply:

a) The Secretary for Defence has uplifted the special leave, after the finalization of the disciplinary hearing where the employee was not found guilty, however the Chairperson of the Disciplinary hearing found that there’s incompatibility between herself and the Secretary for Defence (Head of Department) as well as other employee’s in the office of the Secretary for Defence.

b) As much as workload is heavy the office of the Secretary for Defence, does have a strategy to manage the workload.

c) The remuneration paid to Ms. Lujiza cannot be viewed as fruitless and wasteful expenditure since it had to follow the normal disciplinary process.

d) i) The Secretary for Defence has uplifted the employee special leave and her current utilization is under consideration.

ii) Labour relations issues are ongoing issues which are addressed accordingly as and when the needs arise.

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