The Democratic Alliance will be closely monitoring the progress of an investigation into allegations of unauthorised and irregular expenditure to the tune of millions of rands, involving the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board.
This after a report, recently released to the province’s Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) portfolio committee, which speaks of serious irregularities within the entity.
The Sharks Board and its sister entity, The Moses Kotane Institute (MKI) have largely flown under the radar for many years, until now. Topping the list of allegations contained within the report is the conduct of a former senior manager at the Shark Board’s Centre of Maritime Excellence Training facility.
The manager, who first transferred to the MKI and then resigned, has been implicated in a string of administrative irregularities. Worryingly, the alleged indiscretions stem from a tainted Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and contract that date back to 2013 and which have only now been revealed to the committee.
These include;
• Appointing a training and accreditation service provider under the pretext of the company being the sole service provider in the country
• The apparent circumvention of Supply Chain Management (SCM) processes to appoint the service provider and
• At least 48 students being left without certification for four years and therefore unable to seek work. This as the service provider and KZN Sharks Board legally lock horns.
This fiasco has also highlighted the potential discord between the Board and management of the entity over several years. The DA notes with concern that it was only after a Legislature researcher uncovered the training issues that the Board was fully made aware of the situation.
The plight of the students must now be prioritised while the behind the scenes blame games must come to an end. Both the entity and its management also need to account for why this situation has allowed to drag on for so long without being resolved and whether individuals are being protected at the expense of the students.
The DA looks forward to further investigation into the matter. We expect an in-depth probe into how one manager could, for years, run his own fiefdom without the intervention of senior management and the board.
Investigations should ideally culminate in criminal charges against the now departed manager for potential fraud and contravention of SCM processes.