Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande will have to appear before Parliament over the NSF corruption report after his attempts to keep it confidential failed. Photo: Gallo Images/Ziyaad Douglas
Legal advice obtained by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has paved the way for the Department of Higher Education and Training to appear and account on the National Skills Fund (NSF) forensic report into the alleged corruption and mismanagement that cost the entity R5 billion.
The forensic probe was requested by the committee after the Auditor-General SA (AGSA) gave the NSF two disclaimer reports and found that almost R5 billion couldn’t be accounted for in the past two financial years.
Scopa postponed the sitting to Wednesday after Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande revoked Rule 189 of the National Assembly, blocking the publicising of the report that was tabled six months ago.
Nzimande wrote a letter to Scopa on Tuesday, the same day he was expected to appear, requesting that the report be kept confidential until internal disciplinary processes were completed.
The committee condemned the department for withholding a report that revealed how public funds were spent, and asked lawyers for an opinion on Nzimande’s letter.
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Committee chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the legal opinion obtained on Tuesday night from Parliament’s legal department made it clear that nothing stopped them from proceeding with the NSF matter.
“We have clarity now. It was a matter of due processes. I had a view yesterday and it’s being confirmed today by the legal opinion.
“The minister’s request to invoke Rule 198 of Parliament rules to hold the NSF report confidential has not been acceded to, the committee will continue with its work as it should. We will send a letter to the department, they will have to come and brief this committee on their action plan.”
African National Congress (ANC) MP Nokuzola Tolashe and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Veronica Mente urged Hlengwa to call in the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Hawks to investigate the crime committed at NSF.
“I would recommend that we bring the SIU closer, so that it starts the work with us in looking into the report. The report was received in March, it has now been six to seven months and little or nothing has been done by the department.
“We’re not convinced nothing more will be done. Let’s proceed, the legal advice is clear and confirms the position some of us adopted yesterday,” said Tolashe.
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Mente said should an SIU proclamation take time to put in place, a parliamentary inquiry should be established.
“We don’t have an investigative mechanism as a committee, so we can seek a parliamentary inquiry into NSF. As things stand, Parliament doesn’t know what NSF budget was spent… This means that the public won’t have confidence because what we budgeted for – for our children’s education – is now not accounted for. Let’s communicate with the SIU, if we need to have a meeting with them, let’s do so and have them guide us on critical areas to investigate.”
She added that the practice of allowing disciplinary processes to “discipline criminals” was behind the increased corruption in the country.
“The fact that people are taken to disciplinary hearings where the department has no control, can’t be right. As said in their last appearance, the department is not looking into criminal cases… the fact that the hearing will come out with suspensions only is what drives up corruption in country.
“Criminal cases must be opened against those who committed the crime at NSF. The AG also needs to assist us on what other documents should be obtained and looked into in terms of the auditing that was supposed to have taken place at NSF.”
Nzimande appointed a forensic company to investigate maladministration and graft at NSF last year, in addition to a ministerial task team he established to conduct a strategic review of NSF, including general operations, its efficiency, and its relevance in the country’s national skills priorities.
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