The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes with concern the alleged attack on leadership of the Onderstepoort Biological Property (OBP) and will submit parliamentary questions to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza.
The OBP CEO, Dr Baptiste Dungu, and members of the Board have reportedly received calls in recent times from unknown people making “malicious and mischievous statements” about the management of the State-owned enterprise (SOE).
This is deeply concerning as OBP is one of the few SOEs that continue to operate profitably and has its own cash reserves. The company has also seen an increase in turnover since the takeover of Dr Dungu as the CEO in 2019.
These attacks on the OBP is therefore alarming as it is common knowledge that SOEs are usually looted once they come under attack.
OBP has had its fair share of controversy over the years:
- In his 2018-2019 external audit report, the Auditor-General (AG) uncovered serious mismanagement, irregular expenditure of more than R80 million and supply chain irregularities that took place over a 4-year period, before the appointment of the new CEO.
- According to an OBP media statement released in January 2020, these irregularities were linked to the facility improvement project that was funded by National Treasury to the tune of R492 million in 2014.
- Issues of mismanagement led to disciplinary processes which resulted in some executives and senior staff members resigning from the company.
- The AG recommended a forensic report which was initiated. The initial findings confirmed the AG’s findings regarding the irregular expenditure.
The DA commend the work that OBP has been doing on its journey to recover from the past misery of losing market share by ensuring that products are available and addressing challenges of the new products and their adaptation.
The DA will be asking the following questions to Minister Didiza:
- What the Department is doing to protect the institution against attacks;
- Requesting updates on what the Department and OPB are doing to recover the irregular expenses incurred by those found to have acted wrongfully; and
- Requesting an update regarding the refurbishment and modernization of the existing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility which is expected to be completed by 2020/21.
With so many SOEs failing due to mismanagement and looting, South Africa cannot afford to let another one fall foul of what seems to be attempts to destabilise this SOE.
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