Right of reply: Secretary to parliament responds to Nehawu allegations
The union alleges that Gengezi Mgidlana is 'corrupt', but he says it's the product of 'mere verbiage littered by an irresponsible person'.
Parliament
Secretary to parliament Gengezi Mgidlana has responded to allegations of corruption levelled against him by trade union Nehawu published in the article Nehawu calls for ‘corrupt’ parliament secretary’s head on May 30 2017.
Nehawu claimed he had made staff appointments to his office; appointed himself to chair the tender-adjudication committee; and awarded himself a bursary of R30 000.
Parliament lodged a complaint with the Office of the Press Ombudsman who – in addition to ruling that not enough time had been afforded to Mgidlana to respond – found the article should have mentioned that the journalist could not obtain comment on the allegations. He said that, in doing so, The Citizen had not exercised proper care and consideration regarding Mgidlana’s reputation.
The ombudsan, Johan Retief, directed The Citizen to renew its efforts to obtain comments on the matter and to report those comments in the event that Mgidlana or parliament still wished to comment.
Parliament, however, continued to decline any further requests for comment and did not take up any offers of right of reply.
Mr Mgidlana, however, subsequently contacted The Citizen to say that he had not been afforded the option to give his side of the matter and was interested in taking up his right of reply.
His response to the article is published in full below:
The article has all the hallmarks of bad journalism. The Ombudsman found that The Citizen and its journalist did not bother to give Mr Mgidlana the Secretary to Parliament sufficient time to respond to the article. The seriousness of the allegations made impinge on the dignity and character of Mr Mgidlana should have meant that they exercise due care by providing the Secretary to Parliament an opportunity to state his case.
Finally, Parliament had issued a litany of press statements on matters that Gosebo Mathope of The Citizen newspaper had written about that he did not bother to use. At worst, a simple check of Parliament would have afforded Gosebo Mathope to provide a balanced report. All of this was ignored in the interest of expediency, sensationalism and an unadulterated desire to tannish Mr Mgidlana’s name.
The essence of the article relies on a report by Nehawu’s Sthembiso Tembe who makes reckless, malicious and baseless statements about the Secretary to Parliament in an attempt to argue for a salary increase. In the period in question, the union was engaged with management representatives discussing wage negotiations in the bargaining chamber. These discussions were not held with the Secretary to Parliament personally, nor did the union engage the Secretary at any given point in time on the matter.
It’s now common cause that after two meetings at the bargaining chamber the union went directly to the Executive Authority to engage on the matter. How that amounts to the Secretary to Parliament having said anything to the union is beyond my imagination. The union’s modus operandi is simple, instead of engaging on facts before them in the bargaining chamber, they decide to immaturely personalize matters by attacking the Secretary to Parliament with baseless accusations, create political pressure and in an attempt to force the institutions to settle on their terms.
The accusations made are preposterous, slanderous and defamatory. Firstly, the Secretary to Parliament has not been charged and or found guilty in any court for corruption. Therefore, to refer to me as corrupt is defamatory and any sound unionist, journalist or newspaper would know that. Secondly, the statements made in the article about the Secretary to Parliament issuing “corrupt tenders, giving jobs to pals by making irregular appointments, engages in maladministration by breaking procedures” are wholly and totally baseless and a fabrication.
For the record, in my tenure as Secretary to Parliament performing my duties uninterrupted the institution has consistently received a clean audit and there has not been any adverse finding related to management responsibilities. The remuneration of the Secretary to Parliament and that of all staff is regulated by our policies that, for the record, I found in the institution on my appointment and have not changed.
So, making reference to a salary structure of Parliament that the same union accepted and benefits from as a creation of “this man Mr Mgidlana” that joined the institution over two years ago is disingenuous, deceitful and devoid of any ethical and moral scruples. As a matter of fact, understanding the financial position of Parliament and the country, the management in the administration and I opted voluntarily, before making any recommendation and the decision taken on salary increases, not to benefit from the process. Therefore, statements made that describe the Secretary to Parliament as “this man is greedy” are hogwash and cannot be taken seriously by anyone interested in facts.
It is common cause that Nehawu and Sthembiso Tembe have been making wild allegations on the Secretary to Parliament. Subsequently, the Executive Authority decided to refer these matters to the Audit Committee for investigation in order to determine whether there is merit in what they are saying. The union Nehawu and Sthembiso Tembe have an opportunity to provide proof of all the allegations they make. I shall point out the obvious that, all these allegations point to no contravention of policy, regulation and law.
They just rely on the “word” of Sthembiso Tembe and the union who conveniently remember these allegations each time they are stark in negotiations. They are just mere verbiage littered by an irresponsible person who fails to produce good arguments at the negotiation table, opposes transformation and order.
It is also clear that they have developed obsession on the person of the Secretary to Parliament to the point of having a union campaign to remove me by any means necessary.
The focus should not be these petty politics but, at all times, it should be the support provided to our primary stakeholders as the administration namely, the Members of Parliament and the public. Engaging in this type of petty politics allows the union in Parliament to create a diversion and distortions where proper discussions are subverted on allocative efficiency between the compensation of employees against the programmes of parliament of oversight and accountability.
These are discussions that will affect the quality of output that Parliament is able to achieve, quality of oversight and accountability, assist Parliament to address SA’s developmental challenges and ensure that the ability of Parliament to properly fulfil its constitutional mandate.
As things stand, my team and I are constantly and consistently vilified for applying themselves on their job, turning the decaying organisation systems around, making an effort and contributing towards the realisation of these noble goals, all in the name of achieving narrow demands and objectives of Sthembiso Tembe and the union in Parliament.
The union must desist from making union management issues the raising deter for Parliament and its administration, the focus must rightfully be on supporting our Members of Parliament in exercising the constitutional responsibilities and the people.
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