Reinstate Solly Tshitangano, whistle-blower on corruption in the textbooks tender in Limpopo!
22 August 2012
Solly Tshitangano is a man who should be celebrated as a hero for his role in exposing irregularities in the textbook tender in Limpopo. For over two years he has been at the forefront of efforts to expose irregularities in the contract awarded to EduSolutions in 2010. His story was featured on Carte Blanche on Sunday 19th August in its exposé of corruption in Limpopo (see the transcript here).
In his capacity as then Acting Chief Financial Officer in the Limpopo Provincial Department of Education, Solly Tshitangano was the first person to question the legality of the EduSolutions tender to procure and deliver textbooks to schools in Limpopo. During 2010 he made a number of attempts to deal with these concerns internally but was ignored and his objections overridden. He eventually escalated his concerns to the Premier of Limpopo, the Public Protector and the Presidency; though here again it led to no action.
For his efforts, he was locked out of his office; subjected to a forensic audit, suspended and eventually dismissed in December 2011. Since that time he has been unemployed and has not even been paid his pension.
Solly Tshitangano has fought a lonely battle against mismanagement and possible corruption. His allegations were ignored for nearly two years by officials and politicians.