Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      World Bank set to back South Africa’s big energy grid roll-out

      20 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Sita hits back at critics, promises faster, automated procurement

      20 June 2025

      The transatlantic race to create the first television

      20 June 2025

      Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

      19 June 2025
    • World

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Post Office chairman grilled in parliament

    Post Office chairman grilled in parliament

    By Agency Staff13 April 2016
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    post-office-640

    Parliamentary officials have demanded that the Post Office chairman pay back money lost through the resignations of top officials.

    Simosezwe Lushaba faced angry standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) members who questioned the disciplinary processes at the organisation.

    On Lushaba’s watch, losses at the Post Office climbed to R1,4bn, which was blamed on corrupt managers who have since left the state-owned entity.

    Lushaba told Scopa that disciplinary processes costing about R3m against the former CEO and financial officer resulted in the two eventually resigning.

    “Chairperson, you say to us, because of their seniority, you had to waste taxpayer’s money of about R3m. What type of logic is that?” seethed Scopa member Nyamezela Booi.

    “I thought that South Africans would take full responsibility; we thought that our officials would take full responsibility.”

    “Chair, R3m is not peanuts to me. It was precisely because it got to those numbers that the board was worried and continuing those processes would have actually escalated those costs,” Lushaba said in his response.

    He said that the disciplinary process was hampered by onerous demands of documentation and the organisation could not have regular hearings as it could afford to pay the external chairman.

    The auditor-general found serious financial irregularities at the Post Office, with R576.8m in irregular expenditure and R95m in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

    The AG also found regression in key areas of strategic planning, asset and liability management, and internal audit, among others.

    “Were there consequences for this dereliction of duty? Because if there weren’t, I’d be seriously worried,” fumed Scopa member Mkhuleko Hlengwa.

    “Do the people that you have employed have the capacity — the skills, knowledge and expertise — just to follow simply which they are employed on the basis of?” he added.

    “We did everything we could possibly do to ensure that the hearings sat and when they sat, there was actually enough evidence, enough witnesses to come to the hearings to give evidence that was required,” said Lushaba.

    “The waste comes at the end because there’s no conclusion of the disciplinary process because people resign and there’s no conclusion of the disciplinary process,” he added.

    He told Scopa that the chief financial officer was paid about R1,7m upon resignation, though the amount also included accumulated leave days, estimated at R300 000.

    “There have been no consequences; that’s where the taxpayer’s money is coming in. You are the one who has wasted that money,” said Booi.

    “Can we get that money from you because those people are not available. You allowed them to resign with no consequences. Can we get that money from you?”

    Scopa chairman Themba Godi questioned the hiring practices that allowed people to engage in activities which contravened key legislation, internal policies and regulations.

    “My problem is if you put into position of responsibility a guy who’s a drunkard and the next thing you charge him with being drunk, why should I focus on him and not focus on you who put him there in the first instance?

    “How did those people find themselves into those positions? What level of integrity do we look for in people before we give them positions of responsibility?”

    “I fully agree that this is not an ideal outcome. It’s not what we wanted; it’s not what I wanted. We wanted to hold those executives accountable for what we think were serious transgressions at the Post Office,” said Lushaba.

    Fin24



    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleBitCo to fibre up Randburg’s Strijdompark
    Next Article Gauteng education website beefed up

    Related Posts

    World Bank set to back South Africa’s big energy grid roll-out

    20 June 2025

    The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

    20 June 2025

    Sita hits back at critics, promises faster, automated procurement

    20 June 2025
    Company News

    Making IT happen: how Trade Link gears up to enable SA retail strategies

    20 June 2025

    Why parents choose CambriLearn for online education

    19 June 2025

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.