ID'S PATRICIA DE LILLE CALLS FOR LABOUR DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION INTO "LYING" LOCAL GOVERNMENT SETA CEO

ID President Patricia de Lille has called for a fraud investigation into Sidwell Mofokeng, the CEO of the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority (LGSETA), as well as a prominent member of the Advisory Team of the Minister of Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Chairperson of the Institute for Municipal Finance Officers (IMFO), after he was apparently exposed for having fabricated his matric and bachelor's degree in administration qualifications.

Ms De Lille's call comes after she was approached by a concerned whistleblower.

‘They have asked me to share the truth with the media and the public and I would like to applaud them for their courage in standing up for what is right,' De Lille says.

‘This LGSETA, which has the crucial job of alleviating skills shortages and thereby strengthening municipalities, the coal face of service delivery, should not be headed up by a CEO that appears to have lied about his qualifications.'

Instead of acting against Mofokeng, the LGSETA Board gave him a second chance to prove his qualifications (which verification firm Kroll found to be fake) and then appointed a sub-committee to investigate Mofokeng's suspension of the 3 Human Resources staff members that exposed his qualifications as fake.

The HR Department was acting on instructions from the Auditor-General to conduct an audit into the qualifications of all senior managers.

De Lille is in possession of -

1. an email from the HR & Corporate Affairs Manager requesting senior managers to comply with the Auditor-General's instructions and provide proof of their qualifications;

2. Mofokeng's fake matric certificate, which states that he obtained an E aggregate, but which the Education Department has confirmed is illegitimate. A brief look at his ‘matric certificate' shows that instead of spelling his first name as ‘Sidwell', whoever drew up the certificate spelt his name ‘Sydwell';

3. a petition from 22 LGSETA staff members to the Board protesting against the suspension of the 3 HR staff members, who were escorted from the building by police and then apparently taken in for interrogation;

4. a response from the HR & Corporate Services Manager to a letter from the CEO in which the CEO accused the Manager of offering employment to a Ms Mashigo, when in fact, according to the Manager, the CEO had coerced him into offering her a job;

5. a report from 3 members of the LGSETA Board assigned to investigate the staff's allegations, a report that the staff say is a "cover-up" aimed at protecting the CEO. Incredibly, even though the 3 Board members were mandated to get both sides of the story, staff say that none of the 3 HR staff members were ever interviewed by them;

6. a response from Keith Goodsell, the Board Chair, to the petition from the staff. Goodsell says the matter is merely administrative, but the staff disagree since this matter formed part of the agenda of the Board at a Board meeting on 3 July in Durban. In other words, even though staff say the CEO misrepresented the facts at the Board meeting, the Board took his side and threw the matter out;

7. a letter from the staff members ‘to all stakeholders" in which the staff lay out the history of the saga;

8. a response from one of the Board members to Keith Goodsell, the Chair, questioning the way in which the committee of 3 handled this matter;

9. the "fake" profile of CEO Sidwell Mofokeng, sourced from the internet;

The ID President has now sent a question [below], for written response, to Membathisi Mdladlana, the Minister of Labour, asking what action his Department plans to take and exactly when it will launch an investigation into Mofokeng, as Mofokeng continues to draw a salary of close to a million rand per annum.

‘This situation demands a speedy response and we call on the Minister to suspend Mofokeng and reinstate the 3 Human Resources Department staff members that have been suspended for carrying out the instructions of the Auditor-General,' De Lille says.

‘If Government wants to be seen to do the right thing and is serious about service delivery it must put an end to the culture of rewarding the corrupt and punishing the whistleblowers.'

National Assembly

Written Reply

Date submitted: 29 07 2009

Ms Patricia de Lille (ID) to ask the Minister of Labour;

1) Whether the Minister is taking or planning on taking any action regarding the fraud investigation into Sidwell Mofokeng, the CEO of the sector education and training authority (LGSETA), after he was apparently exposed for having fabricated his matric and bachelor's degree in administration qualifications; if not, why not; if so, (a) when exactly will the department launch an investigation and (B) can the Minister provide details of the investigation?

Statement issued by Patricia de Lille, leader of the Independent Democrats, August 2 2009

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter