Defiant provincial head of governance Marion Mbina-Mthembu says no one will dare push her out of office, a message she literally took to the ANC’s head office on Tuesday.
“There is a push to make me unemployable. It’s as if I can’t get a job. But I chose to join government, not because I had no options,” said Mbina-Mthembu, who joined the provincial government as treasury head of department in 2011.
Mbina-Mthembu made an unannounced visit to Calata House on Tuesday, causing a stir when she demanded to see provincial chairman Oscar Mabuyane and deputy secretary Helen Sauls-August, who were both away.
Witnesses said the director-general was so furious about the Tuesday Dispatch report, headlined “Take special leave, DG told”, that she showed the paper to all passersby, pointing at her picture and saying: “This is me. Look! Look!”
But Mabuyane did not take kindly to the impromptu visit, describing it as “ill discipline of the highest order”.
Mbina-Mthembu confirmed her visit to the offices, saying she wanted to confront both Mabuyane and Sauls-August, as they were among the ANC leaders who were giving instructions when her office was monitoring and facilitating procurement processes for Nelson Mandela’s funeral arrangements back in 2013.
“I was hoping he would be there and explain whether that is how things are done,” she said.
“I would expect the chairperson and MEC Sauls-August to know, especially MEC Sauls-August, who phoned me frantically during this Mandela funeral.
“So I am finding it difficult that she would be part of a team that says these things as if she didn’t know what she was going through in Port Elizabeth herself.”
The Dispatch report quoted provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi as saying the party wanted her to voluntarily go on leave.
This follows last week’s release of public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s findings on the Mandela funeral funds scandal.
In a 333-page report published last Tuesday, Mkhwebane accuses Mbina-Mthembu and several other officials and councillors in Eastern Cape municipalities of wrongdoing. Mkhwebane wants Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba to ask President Jacob Zuma to issue a proclamation to send the Hawks to investigate further.
At the time of the scandal, several MECs were deployed across the province, including Sauls-August and Mlibo Qoboshiyane, who were based in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
Mkhwebane’s report reveals that of R330-million set aside to speed up the building of infrastructure, more than R22-million was used to buy T-shirts, hire PA systems and buy takeaway food for mourners.
Mabuyane said of Mbina-Mthembu’s visit to Calata House: “I don’t understand why she would be coming here as she has no business here. It’s ill discipline of the highest order.
“It shows the lack of understanding of what the ANC is all about in relation to her job. It is not difficult to get my contact numbers.
“This reveals the attitude she has towards me and the ANC.”
Mbina-Mthembu refused to be dragged into a dialogue, saying: “For me now, I’ve done what I wanted to do – to remind him what was happening there , plus the pressure that we worked under.”
She put the blame for poor planning squarely on the shoulders of then premier Noxolo Kiviet and her director-general Mbulelo Sogoni.
“I was not the director-general at that time and anybody who reads the constitution will know what my role was and who should have planned to ensure that at least the provincial memorial was done correctly.
“How to close the gap of work which should have been done by the premier’s office over four years, which we now had to do in 10 days?
“My first bone of contention in that report is that it is as if I was the DG. I wasn’t. I was asked, in my role as head of treasury, to prepare something that will be used by the cabinet in line with the PFMA because we were supposed to straddle three entities.
“Logically my assumption was that when there was an announcement of a provincial memorial service, it had been prepared for and budgeted for.
“Whether I am a scapegoat or not, I won’t go,” Mbina-Mthembu said. — zineg@dispatch.co.za
I won’t go – Mbina-Mthembu
“There is a push to make me unemployable. It’s as if I can’t get a job. But I chose to join government, not because I had no options,” said Mbina-Mthembu, who joined the provincial government as treasury head of department in 2011.
Mbina-Mthembu made an unannounced visit to Calata House on Tuesday, causing a stir when she demanded to see provincial chairman Oscar Mabuyane and deputy secretary Helen Sauls-August, who were both away.
Witnesses said the director-general was so furious about the Tuesday Dispatch report, headlined “Take special leave, DG told”, that she showed the paper to all passersby, pointing at her picture and saying: “This is me. Look! Look!”
But Mabuyane did not take kindly to the impromptu visit, describing it as “ill discipline of the highest order”.
Mbina-Mthembu confirmed her visit to the offices, saying she wanted to confront both Mabuyane and Sauls-August, as they were among the ANC leaders who were giving instructions when her office was monitoring and facilitating procurement processes for Nelson Mandela’s funeral arrangements back in 2013.
“I was hoping he would be there and explain whether that is how things are done,” she said.
“I would expect the chairperson and MEC Sauls-August to know, especially MEC Sauls-August, who phoned me frantically during this Mandela funeral.
“So I am finding it difficult that she would be part of a team that says these things as if she didn’t know what she was going through in Port Elizabeth herself.”
The Dispatch report quoted provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi as saying the party wanted her to voluntarily go on leave.
This follows last week’s release of public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s findings on the Mandela funeral funds scandal.
In a 333-page report published last Tuesday, Mkhwebane accuses Mbina-Mthembu and several other officials and councillors in Eastern Cape municipalities of wrongdoing. Mkhwebane wants Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba to ask President Jacob Zuma to issue a proclamation to send the Hawks to investigate further.
At the time of the scandal, several MECs were deployed across the province, including Sauls-August and Mlibo Qoboshiyane, who were based in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
Mkhwebane’s report reveals that of R330-million set aside to speed up the building of infrastructure, more than R22-million was used to buy T-shirts, hire PA systems and buy takeaway food for mourners.
Mabuyane said of Mbina-Mthembu’s visit to Calata House: “I don’t understand why she would be coming here as she has no business here. It’s ill discipline of the highest order.
“It shows the lack of understanding of what the ANC is all about in relation to her job. It is not difficult to get my contact numbers.
“This reveals the attitude she has towards me and the ANC.”
Mbina-Mthembu refused to be dragged into a dialogue, saying: “For me now, I’ve done what I wanted to do – to remind him what was happening there , plus the pressure that we worked under.”
She put the blame for poor planning squarely on the shoulders of then premier Noxolo Kiviet and her director-general Mbulelo Sogoni.
“I was not the director-general at that time and anybody who reads the constitution will know what my role was and who should have planned to ensure that at least the provincial memorial was done correctly.
“How to close the gap of work which should have been done by the premier’s office over four years, which we now had to do in 10 days?
“My first bone of contention in that report is that it is as if I was the DG. I wasn’t. I was asked, in my role as head of treasury, to prepare something that will be used by the cabinet in line with the PFMA because we were supposed to straddle three entities.
“Logically my assumption was that when there was an announcement of a provincial memorial service, it had been prepared for and budgeted for.
“Whether I am a scapegoat or not, I won’t go,” Mbina-Mthembu said. — zineg@dispatch.co.za
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