USAASA CFO resigns

By Candice Jones for USAASA
Johannesburg, 05 Sep 2008

Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) CFO Keith Keys has resigned, following a disciplinary hearing which found him guilty of financial mismanagement.

Keys was suspended in May on allegations of not following government accounting procedures and the telecommunications agency conducted an audit investigation into its financial records.

According to USAASA head of corporate affairs Dr Sharon Horton, Keys was never involved in fraud or corruption, and no money has gone missing from the agency's vaults. "It is really just a sad case of mismanagement on his part, and the investigation found him guilty of that."

USAASA says it is confident the correct action has been taken to correct the financial irregularities when they were discovered, as "prescribed by the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA)".

Many in government consider the PFMA to be a notorious piece of legislation. Accounting officers and others deemed responsible for handling public monies can be held criminally liable for not following strict procedural guidelines, which does not necessarily mean corruption or misappropriation of funds.

The agency has also implemented tighter controls to prevent any further management irregularities from taking place. "We felt it was our duty to the public to follow this route. We had to take a strong stand, especially because we are dealing with public funds."

Horton says Keys resigned immediately after he heard the outcome of the hearing. "The agency has accepted the resignation of Mr Keys and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours."

Linda Ngcwembe has been acting in his place since the beginning of the investigation. She will continue to act in that position until the agency's HR department advertises the post. Horton adds that the position will be advertised soon, because of the critical nature of the role.

USAASA has been dogged with a bad reputation for mismanagement. Horton says the disciplinary and subsequent resignation will serve to both warn agency staff and show the public that mismanagement will "no longer be tolerated".

"We have new staff in management, and we are going to show these people are capable and competent in the tasks that have been set for them," she adds.

The agency is gearing up to release a report on its year-end finances and Horton says it has received a full clean audit.