On 10 April, communications minister Dina Pule stripped her director-general, Rosey Sekese, of a range of key powers. In a letter signed by the minister, which TechCentral today publishes in full, Pule assigned all human resources matters to one of Sekese’s deputies, Gift Buthelezi, just as the the DG returned to work from an enforced “special leave”.
Sekese was placed on the special leave — an effective suspension — by Pule in January, though it remains unclear why this action was taken.
Buthelezi was appointed as acting director-general in Sekese’s absence.
Pule’s letter to Sekese is dated 10 April, the same day the DG returned to work after reaching an out-of-court settlement.
At the weekend, the Sunday Independent reported that Sekese, who was forced to approach the courts to lift her suspension, was twice locked out of her office. The newspaper said department of communication security personnel had at one point threatened to evict her from the building, and police were called in to remove her from the premises.
The conflict has left the department of communications in a state of paralysis, sources close to the situation say. One source on Wednesday told TechCentral that the department had been “politicised and paralysed” because of the breakdown in relations between Pule and Sekese.
This is a disturbing development given that the information and communications technology industry is waiting for the department to make a number of key decisions around issues such as digital television migration and radio frequency spectrum allocation. The allocation of spectrum for next-generation broadband services is crucial in unlocking planned multibillion-rand capital investments by the sector.
Sekese’s suspension came two months after parliament’s portfolio committee on communications found that she had “misled” parliament regarding the signing of her performance agreement for the 2012/2013 financial year. Sekese said she had signed her agreement but it later emerged that this was untrue.
Deputy communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams took a stand after she learnt Sekese had not signed the agreement, telling the DG: “Madam, you don’t lie to parliament.” The committee resolved to take action against Sekese for allegedly making a false statement.
It has since come to light that there were plans to transfer Sekese to another department, but she had not been consulted about a possible transfer, according to her lawyer, Sandile July. Earlier this month, Sekese returned to work after her suspension was lifted when she and Pule reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement.
However, Pule has severely curtailed Sekese’s responsibilities, limiting the DG’s ability to perform her duties and manage her staff and potentially putting her in a position where she is no longer able to satisfy the requirements of her position. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
