Death threats for media training CEO
The media, advertising, publishing, printing and packing sector education and training authority had hired a security company to protect staff members and the CEO, who had allegedly received death threats, said Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question by Democratic Alliance labour spokesman Mark Louw, he said he would be asking for assistance from Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula in the matter, which has also been referred to the Scorpions.
Louw said CEO Melanie Bernard-Fryer had received death threats, and that she and her family were living under armed guard.
After raising concerns about R47m in irregular payments made by the body, Bernard-Fryer started receiving threatening phone calls.
An unidentified man tried to run her daughter off the road, and there was an attempted break-in at room housing the training body’s computer servers.
Mdladlana said that while he was aware of the threats, he was also concerned about the amount of money meant for skills develop-ment that had been spent on security services.
He also noted that R12m had been paid by the body to training institutions without valid supporting documentation.
On a separate matter, Mdladlana said an investigation undertaken by accounting firm Deloitte into the financial affairs of the health and welfare sector education and training authority had found it had submitted incorrect information to the auditor-general in its 2005-06 financial statements.
Mdladlana said the investigation led to the suspension of the CEO and chief financial officer, who left after disciplinary action was taken against them.
He said the investigation found evidence that the financial statements submitted to the auditor-general on May 31 were not a true reflection of the financial status of the training body.
“Furthermore, a bank account was opened without proper approval. Various policies were either not in place or aligned with treasury regulations. Irregularities were found in the procurement of an electronic data management system and this resulted in wasteful expenditure of more than R500000,” Mdladlana said. Read more
In a written reply to a parliamentary question by Democratic Alliance labour spokesman Mark Louw, he said he would be asking for assistance from Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula in the matter, which has also been referred to the Scorpions.
Louw said CEO Melanie Bernard-Fryer had received death threats, and that she and her family were living under armed guard.
After raising concerns about R47m in irregular payments made by the body, Bernard-Fryer started receiving threatening phone calls.
An unidentified man tried to run her daughter off the road, and there was an attempted break-in at room housing the training body’s computer servers.
Mdladlana said that while he was aware of the threats, he was also concerned about the amount of money meant for skills develop-ment that had been spent on security services.
He also noted that R12m had been paid by the body to training institutions without valid supporting documentation.
On a separate matter, Mdladlana said an investigation undertaken by accounting firm Deloitte into the financial affairs of the health and welfare sector education and training authority had found it had submitted incorrect information to the auditor-general in its 2005-06 financial statements.
Mdladlana said the investigation led to the suspension of the CEO and chief financial officer, who left after disciplinary action was taken against them.
He said the investigation found evidence that the financial statements submitted to the auditor-general on May 31 were not a true reflection of the financial status of the training body.
“Furthermore, a bank account was opened without proper approval. Various policies were either not in place or aligned with treasury regulations. Irregularities were found in the procurement of an electronic data management system and this resulted in wasteful expenditure of more than R500000,” Mdladlana said. Read more
posted by Jopie Fourie at 11:24 PM
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