Pravin Gordhan appoints another underqualified official

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Johannesburg - Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has appointed another senior government official without a post-matric qualification. The Sunday Independent can today reveal that Gordhan appointed Nthabiseng Borotho as his chief of staff last year despite her not meeting the minimum criteria for the R1.2-million-a-year job. Insiders said Borotho went on to turn the ministry into a family recruitment agency, by allegedly hiring her half-sister, Nancy Panduva, to the Cape Town office as well as another family member, Debbie Malopa, as a driver, in the same office. This comes hot on the heels of the questionable appointment of Mango Airlines CEO Nico Bezuidenhout and former SA Revenue Services (Sars) deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay by Gordhan. The Sunday Independent reported last year that Gordhan had also allegedly imposed CEO Andre de Ruyter on the board of Eskom. Bezuidenhout was handed the position of Mango CEO by Gordhan after he allegedly overruled the board of Mango, a subsidiary of SAA, after they had decided on someone else who possessed the qualifications and experience.

Bezuidenhout had left SAA under a cloud over his lack of qualifications and had been accused of lying about them. That still did not deter Gordhan on his quest to have his man at the helm of the low-cost airline. On Gordhan’s watch, SAA also appointed Adam Voss as SAA Technical CEO despite his dodgy past.

The Sunday Independent previously reported that Voss was allegedly responsible for a helicopter crash that killed 10 people in Indonesia in 2011 after he had ignored international aviation safety advice. According to a memo seen by Sunday Independent, Gordhan sought the blessings of public service and administration minister Senzo Mchunu to appoint Borotho last August as she “doesn’t possess an NQF7 qualification required” or have “the minimum requirements for the position of chief of staff”.

The request for “a deviation from the qualification requirements since the proposed individual doesn’t meet the inherent requirements for the post” was sent to Mchunu on August 21 last year.

Mchunu approved Gordhan’s request in an internal memo dated August 26, where the public service minister stressed that even though Borotho did not meet the minimum requirements, she could be appointed as the chief of staff “as a result of exceptional circumstances”.

Borotho officially started as Gordhan’s chief of staff on October 1, on a salary of R1 251 183-million per annum plus a monthly allowance of R7 035.

Sources said shortly after Borotho was appointed, she took possession of a government vehicle - a Lexus - that was allocated to deputy minister Gratitude Magwanishe and a state-issued petrol card. Her colleagues at public enterprises claim Borotho allegedly terrorised them after ascending to the senior position and also because of her closeness to Gordhan.

“Nthabiseng is treating everyone very badly in the department and we don’t call her a terrorist for nothing. She is abusing her closeness to the minister, maybe because she knows that she doesn’t deserve her position as she didn’t go to school like most of us and feels threatened by our presence and academic qualifications,” a colleague who asked to remain anonymous said. Borotho allegedly also appointed Panduva and Malopa to the Cape Town office.

It is understood that Borotho and Panduva are half-sisters, born from the same mother but different fathers.

The Sunday Independent has seen photos of Borotho and Panduva, whom she described as her “lovely sister”, on her Facebook page.

Borotho personally signed Malopa’s letter of appointment last May, signing off as chief of staff, more than four months before she was even appointed to the position.

Borotho and Malopa come from Gugulethu in the Western Cape and grew up on the same street. Borotho also posted photos of herself and Malopa on her Facebook page.

The Sunday Independent confirmed that Borotho went to Fezekile High School in Gugulethu where she wrote and failed her matric in 1995.

Gordhan’s spokesperson, Sam Mkokeli, on Friday promised to respond to The Sunday Independent’s questions but failed to do so and meet yesterday’s 5pm deadline agreed upon.

In an unprecedented move, Gordhan’s department yesterday then released a statement to all the media houses, attaching The Sunday Independent’s questions and his answers and also attacking the integrity of the paper, its journalists and the publisher.

In the statement, he asserts: “Ms Borotho and the ministry emphatically reject and deny these allegations and any insinuation in the newspaper’s reporting that may arise from them.

“Ms Borotho matriculated in 1997. She has never worked for the State Security Agency, or other intelligence agency. She has never been the subject of any investigation or disciplinary process with respect to ‘fraud, corruption and embezzlement of funds',” said Mkokeli.

“The appointment of ministerial staff is not done solely on Ms Borotho’s discretion as chief of staff. It is done through the normal administrative processes in which several individuals participate in the manner that applies to any ministry. She drives her own vehicle and has, like other ministerial staff, on occasion used a vehicle of the ministry for her official duties.

"Ms Borotho’s personal financial affairs are a private matter.”

Borotho and Mchunu spokesperson, Vukani Mbhele, failed to respond to questions.

The flaunting of rules and relaxation of qualifications requirements has been a nightmare for the government.

In 2016, the Public Services Commission’s report found that irregular appointments emanated from non-compliance with and transgression from the requirements of applicable legislative and policy frameworks in the appointment process.

The report further indicated that to ensure that qualified and experienced individuals were employed in the right positions, job advertisements should indicate the job descriptions and specifications that should inform advertisements and thus the identification of appropriately qualified, experienced, skilled and competent candidates.

The job specifications should also define the skills, knowledge, experience, personal attributes and other relevant factors necessary for the effective performance of the job in question.

The job description, among other things, should define the duties and responsibilities for each post.

The rationale for detailed job profiling was to ensure criteria set for selection of candidates were fair, transparent, and structured in the recruitment, selection and appointment processes.

The Sunday Independent