DA calls on Labour Minister to suspend special advisor following damning forensic audit findings
1 March 2015
The Minister of Labour, Mildred Oliphant, continues to retain former Executive Director of Nedlac, Herbert Mkhize, as her special advisor even though a Department of Labour initiated external forensic report found that he and then Chief Financial Officer of Nedlac, Umesh Dulabh, fraudulently and illegally enriched themselves to the value of almost R2 million using Nedlac funds. The Minister has had this report in her possession for more than two years but has taken no action (see Sunday Times report).
It is unacceptable that an individual engaged in systematic self-enrichment at taxpayers' expense is still being protected by the Minister. The Minister must immediately suspend Mr Mkhize, and see to it that criminal charges are instituted against both Mkhize and Dulabh.
The forensic report into the alleged corrupt activities at Nedlac found that Mkhize and Dulabh used their Nedlac Diners cards to fraudulently spend over R1 million of public funds on a host of personal items between 2011 and 2012. I have obtained this report after a successful Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application.
Some of the expenditure includes: