Note to Editors: Please find an attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Mariette Pittaway MPL.
The provincial Department of Social Development has been left stripped bare and humiliated after its assets were seized by the sheriff of the court.
It was brought to the attention of the Democratic Alliance (DA) that the apparent reason is due to a CCMA and High Court ruling in favour of a former employee. In the 2018/2019 Financial Year, an officer at the Department was allegedly approved for appointment to the post of a director by former MEC Limakatso Mahasa. Despite this, another employee was appointed in the position. The decision was contested and the approved officer was to be appointed into the position but this was stalled by the Department. The officer successfully sued the Department for R3 million resulting in the seizure of Departmental assets.
The police and the ombudsman were on hand on 8 June 2022 to supervise the repossession of assets from the office, including Departmental vehicles and office furniture. The Department’s Management staff were not present.
The Department of Social Development is tasked with protecting the most vulnerable members of society. However, it has become clear that they prefer to waste money on unnecessary litigation and deprive citizens of essential services. This follows another case that was won against the Department by Engo, a non-profit welfare organisation that provides care and counselling to abandoned, abused and homeless children, as well as the destitute elderly and families in need. In this case the court ruled in favour of Engo in amount of R91.5 million.
Unfortunately, our most vulnerable people will bear the brunt of this failure. It is the people of the Free State that are left cold and hungry while the Department Heads waste taxpayer money on courtroom battles. This entire mess could have been prevented if the Department followed correct hiring practices and didn’t engage in cadre deployment.
This once again demonstrates how the ANC has failed to properly govern and how their corruption is depriving our most vulnerable people of essential services. The DA is investigating the issue and will submit questions to the MEC of Social Development, Miss Mamiki Qabathe. The guilty must be called to account for this unnecessary expenditure.