The Public Servants Association (PSA) has welcomed the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment against the former Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, and the order that she repay R2 million for unauthorised personal security expenses in 2013. The security services contract was approved by Sassa, an entity that Dlamini was in charge of while she served as minister of the Department of Social Development.
Acting Deputy General Manager at the PSA, Claude Naiker says the ruling should serve as a warning to other politicians.
“This ruling just set the tone for future, shall I say warning for politicians that albeit that they’re ministers of specific departments, there are regulations and acts that indicate exactly how one should follow in the event of procuring goods or services in any department,” says Naiker.
He says over the years, senior managers in government departments were made to pay politicians’ crimes.
“We’ve seen this over a number of years where instructions were given to senior management officials in the department to carry out activities that were not lawful or not in line with the regulations or the acts and invariably when there were audit findings, these senior officials were made scapegoats to account for those fraudulent activities,” he adds.
