The Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) has hit back at allegations that whistleblowers at the agency - who leaked information of irregularities within the organisation - are now being called in to disciplinary hearings for blowing the lid.
Earlier this week, Cope MP Juli Kilian told ITWeb she had received worrying information that the insiders at USAASA, who provided United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa with information of possible corruption and maladministration at the agency, are now being subjected to disciplinary action. Kilian said she received the information from a reliable source and will follow up the matter with communications minister Yunus Carrim.
USAASA spokesperson Khulekani Ntshangase says Kilian's allegations that there is reportedly ample evidence that corrupt activities are going on at the agency are "just hallucination" [sic]. He says the USAASA board and management have always stated that, should people have suspicions of wrongdoing at the agency, they should approach relevant authorities to report the matter.
"This board and the CEO [Zam Nkosi] even went further to request [the] Public Service Commission to allow members of the public to use the National Anti-Corruption hotline to report allegations. According to our agreement, people report and USAASA has 40 days to respond," says Ntshangase.
"We issued a public statement to this effect. We also sent an internal memo so that if I suspect wrongdoing, I can simply report the matter, even if I am an employee. Now, to prosecute us in the public gallery without following procedures is tantamount to character assassination, which can have very dire consequences for those peddling it."
He says if USAASA was given the opportunity, it would have appealed to the alleged whistleblowers "that it is not correct to be habitual liars".
"But also, we would have asked politicians to refrain from seeking to score some cheap points at the expense of the lives of millions of poor and under-developed people of this country. There is no government agency that simply gets rid of people without a reason. Because Kilian knows things some of us have no knowledge of, maybe she should advise her informants that there are things called CCMA and Labour Court in this country, wherein workers who feel aggrieved can seek recourse. If they are not happy with the decisions of these structures, they can go all the way to the Constitutional Court," he says.
According to Kilian, it is "regrettable" that Ntshangase chose to involve himself in the political arena rather than responding to the question as to whether disciplinaries have been instituted against whistleblowers.
"His conduct smacks of arrogance and of complete ignorance of the RSA Constitution, which compels all public officials to perform their duties in an unbiased, apolitical manner," she says.
"Employees of USAASA have the constitutional right to approach any representative of any political party to raise concerns about possible corrupt practices. All Members of Parliament, in turn, have not only the right, but also the duty, to cause thorough investigations into all possible irregularities committed by individuals in the public service.
"We will not rest until those responsible for corrupt practices are brought to book and those who cover up such practices are banned from serving the public."
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