The DA welcomes the precautionary suspension of the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Corporate Services Officer of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), close to a year since the DA first raised concerns over their alleged conduct during their respective stints as Acting CEO.
Sources from within the SABS observed the two individuals, Mr Lungelo Ntobongwana and Mr Lizo Makele, being marched out of the building just after midday last Friday, the same day they were suspended. The tenures of Ntobongwana and Makele were marked by significant reputational damage due to multiple staff suspensions, clashes with the main union Nehawu, loss of accreditation of certain laboratories and a devastating cyber-attack.
In a series of letters to Minister Parks Tau dating back to August last year, I have drawn his attention to numerous emails from whistleblowers calling on him to take action to stop the alleged scaremongering tactics reportedly employed by these two individuals, which led to a drop in staff morale and lowering of productivity in the organisation. As further evidence of problems besetting the SABS, earlier this month its National Electricity Testing Facility suffered a break-in and the theft of a significant amount of copper cabling, an indication of inadequate security measures being in place.
The suspension of the two executives comes just days before the investigation instituted by Minister Tau in February into governance and management failures at the SABS is due to be submitted. The DA is encouraged by the new Acting-CEO’s commitment to this investigation.
The DA calls on Minister Tau to publicly release the investigation report without delay. The report’s findings and recommendations will shed light on years of dysfunction at this vital institution and should set a clear path ahead for the new board to place it on a secure footing for the future.