Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite by Toby Chance MP.
A late-night email addressed to Minister Parks Tau and copied to the Democratic Alliance from an South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) staff member writing, it would appear, on behalf of 500 colleagues, is a distress call for urgent action on the disfunction that continues to plague this organisation.
Headed “SABS Christmas Woes”, the email recounts the requests over many months by SABS employees for a hearing from the minister about the growing list of grievances aimed at senior executives who appear to be living charmed lives with no accountability.
On December 13th, the SABS released a statement accusing me of sponsoring these grievances and of being a cyber-bully, in reference to a number of statements I have released drawing attention to the crisis at the SABS. Yesterday’s email raised the latest consequence of the cyber-attack suffered by the SABS – a delay in making salary payments and the possibility that they will not be paid, as promised, on Monday due to the collapse of vital IT systems.
On December 15th, in an interview on NewzRoom Afrika, Acting CEO Lizo Makele denied all the allegations laid at his door, claiming they were trumped up by disgruntled employees trying to deflect the fact that they were facing disciplinary charges for misconduct. These included senior members of Nehawu, who were suspended after they entered Mr Makele’s office unannounced in an attempt to get answers about their grievances.
The irony is that many of the suspensions happened as a result of these employees blowing the whistle on their superiors, who blithely dismiss all demands for their own accountability.
As this latest email points out, these issues are not new – “Minister, since 2021 – employees have been shuffled and reshuffled – into new roles, mostly demoted – some into roles with no leaders. Every 6 months, there is a new CEO with a new modus operandi and more reshuffling.”
The best Christmas present Minister Tau could hand to the 500 anxious SABS staff would be to announce, on Monday, an independent investigation into the SABS that gets to the root of the issues and deals with them effectively and without any further delay.
Furthermore, I will be writing to the chair of the portfolio committee on trade, industry and competition, Hon Mzwandile Masina MP, to summon Minister Tau and the Interim Chairman of the SABS board to account to the committee at a special committee meeting in January.