STAFF REPORTER
PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has fired his spokesperson Sam Mkokeli in the latest staff upheaval over the department’s decision to nail officials who leaked information about the ‘irregular’ appointment of chief of staff, Nthabiseng Borotho.
This was confirmed by department of public enterprise’s director-general Kgathatso Tlhakudi during an interview with Radio 702 on Sunday night.
“He [Mkokeli] has resigned. He is finishing at the end of this month,” said Tlhakudi.
“Let me clarify something here. There has been quite an extensive communication with Sam [Mkokeli] to say you are not living up to expectations as an employee and how are you going to shape up and improve on [Communications]. He chose to resign. So this demonising of Nthabiseng Borotho … is [also] Sam trying to avoid to account for his own conduct in the department.”
Tlhakudi further confirmed reports that the department of public enterprises has roped in the services of a forensic company to investigate officials who leaked ‘personal information’ to the media about Borotho.
He alleged that the leak to the media was part of a ‘fight back’ campaign by disgruntled staff members and certain heads of department (HODs) in an attempt to resist change management and the ministry’s efforts to clean up the Department of rot.
“Yes we are [investigating]. We are doing this because the personal information of an employee cannot be in the public arena through illegal means,” said Tlhakudi.
Responding to questions about the break-down of his relationship with Gordhan, Mkokeli told Radio 702: “The minister sent me a Whatsapp message to say I was not welcome in his meetings because I am a critic. He is clearly not comfortable with the truth and honesty. I am just shocked that government would waste money to investigate [officials] who leaked the information about the chief of staff’s [qualifications].”
According to the Sunday Independent, Gordhan was allegedly annoyed by Mkokeli’s comments on the department’s Whatsapp group where he criticised the minister’s decision to appoint a forensic company to find whistle-blowers who leaked the information on how his chief of staff was appointed without requisite qualifications.
In the Whatsapp group, Mkokeli is alleged to have asked the minister about the legal basis of such an investigation, and questioned why the department was turning a blind eye on the allegations levelled against Borotho.
The report further stated that in the message to Gordhan, Mkokeli asked the minister why the department “opted to investigate the leaks instead of the allegations against Borotho. Is there a particular reason why whistle-blowers, who expose wrongdoing, are being targeted?” Mkokeli asked Gordhan.
The former journalist also asked the minister if the department was “turning a blind eye to allegations that Boroko is not qualified for the position she currently holds”.
Mkokeli, in answering questions to the newspaper, released a statement through his attorney Clifford Levin which said: “Genuine whistle-blowers are an important part of our democratic existence and should be protected at all times. Pravin Gorhan was only recently the face our of our highest ethical and democratic ideals and we should never snuff out whistle-blowers in his name or right under his nose.
“The allegations against the chief-of-staff are easy to rebutt. The Department should simply release to the public her CV and deny that she appointed her relatives. This story would die in a second.”
“Forensic investigations into whistle-blowers will create an environment of fear and dictatorship, exactly the things the ‘New Dawn’ was meant to replace. Instead of listening to my counsel, the DG prefers to refer me as an internal critic, which is eerily similar to the ‘clever blacks’ tag many of us got during the Zuma days.”
“I have raised an internal complaint relating to the stunning incompetence associated with the Chief of Staff and other matters symptomatic of a deep intellectual insecurity. Gordhan is fully aware of my disdain for both incompetence and dishonesty”.
(SOURCE: INSIDE POLITICS)
