By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) is investigating the allegations of corruption and maladministration at the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS).
SABS is the statutory body that is responsible for product standardisation and quality.
In an open letter sent to Trade, Industry Minister Parks Tau on December 10, penned by an anonymous whistleblower, the SABS was accused of, among other things, irregular recruitment practices, board dysfunctionality, quashed whistleblower reports, inconsistency in dealing with disciplinary issues and financial misconduct.
One of the key issues raised in the whistleblower letter was the allegation of bonuses paid to executives.
The same executives that have been reported by so many whistleblowers have now gone and paid themselves exorbitant bonuses.
“Further to this, [the acting CEO] has not even completed four months of his term and he believes he needs a bonus. They have been getting acting allowances for years. How is it possible that they can be so greedy?” the author of the letter asks.
In response, the SABS is adamant that the whistleblower has an agenda to discredit the institution and its leadership for an unspecified reason.
“The SABS has adopted policies and procedure to protect whistleblowers. However, it must be noted that with a plethora of allegations that have been levelled against the SABS, there is no one who has come forward to the SABS as a whistleblower to test the veracity of the SABS ‘policies.
Be that as it may, the SABS confirms its commitment to the protection of whistleblowers in line with its policies and procedures,” the bureau said.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Trade, Industry and Competition MP Toby Chance said the bureau’s response raised more questions than answers.
Chance said it had become clear that a culture of fear had infested the SABS such that staff were now afraid to speak out lest they be suspended, threatened and victimised.
He said the DA has also learned that significant resources were being spent in trying to identify whistleblowers rather than dealing with the issues that the whistleblowers raise.
Fullview reached the Department of Trade, Industry for comment and has declined to respond on the matters raised by the whistleblower, pending the investigation.