Communications minister Dina Pule has told parliament she is working with public service & administration minister Lindiwe Sisulu to find “the most appropriate” way of dealing with the department’s director-general, Rosey Sekese, who was suspended in January.

Until now, Pule has not revealed why Sekese was placed on “special leave”, but on Tuesday suggested to parliament’s portfolio committee on communications that the suspension was related to charges that the director-general had misled parliament over whether she had signed a performance contract.

TechCentral established earlier this year that Sekese and Pule had fallen out and were barely on speaking terms. In April, when the suspension was lifted and Sekese returned to work, the minister stripped her some of her key decision-making powers, including the ability to hire and fire staff at the department.

On Tuesday, Pule explained that she had decided to review the delegation of authority and reassigned all human resource responsibilities to deputy director-general Gift Buthelezi. “This was done because, since January, the department had moved with speed to fill vacancies at senior management level — an area that had hamstrung the department’s ability to deliver services in recent years,” she said.

“The process to find an appropriate way of dealing with the matter involving the director-general is ongoing and is subject to legal considerations,” she added. Pule said she was working with Sisulu to bring the matter to a “speedy close”.

A month ago, a TechCentral source with working knowledge of the department said it had “ground to a halt” and that it was unlikely the conflict between Pule and Sekese would be resolved until the minister’s own fate was decided.

Pule is facing parallel investigations by the public protector and parliament’s ethics committee into allegations that her alleged boyfriend, Phosane Mngqibisa, benefited improperly from the ICT Indaba held in Cape Town a year ago. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media