Eastern Cape acting education boss Ray Tywakadi has lost administrative control of his department, with a stand-in accounting officer being deployed from the provincial treasury to run the department’s R29.4-billion budget.
Provincial treasury spokesman Nosisa Sogayise confirmed that the treasury department’s Sizakele Netshilaphala had been seconded to the education department.
The development comes amid plans by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to withdraw her formal intervention in the provincial department.
Attempts to get comment from Tywakadi were unsuccessful.
Education department provincial spokesman Loyiso Pulumani referred questions to Sogayise and education’s chief director for statutory, advisory and protocol services Phila Ngqumba.
Sogayise confirmed that Netshilaphala had been sent to education and had taken over the powers as accounting officer.
She said this was the second priority in the policy speech of finance and planning MEC Sakhumzi Somyo’s.
Sogayise said moving Netshilaphala to education was a legal action and within government’s powers.
She said treasury had the authority to recall accounting officer powers from heads of departments (HoDs) since treasury, which had overall accounting authority, delegated such authority to HoDs.
“The Public Finance Management Act allows treasury in exceptional circumstances, to approve or instruct in writing that a person other than the HoD or CEO be the accounting officer for that particular department.”
Sogayise said “with the hope of ensuring efficiencies and improving operations and basic education outcomes in the province”, treasury’s intervention would deal with:
- Improving data management;
- Ensuring efficient management of human resources;
- Enhancing infrastructure management and maintenance; and
- Implementing supply chain management (SCM) reforms and refurbishing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure.
Netshilaphala’s involvement in education comes after a decision from National Treasury to institute centralise procurement for departments.
Sogayise said learner and teacher support material (LTSM) had been identified as a programme that would be procured by treasury.
This will be the third programme to be removed from the normal programmes of education.
In 2011, the scholar transport programme was moved to the department of transport. Later, the school nutrition programme was decentralised to be managed by schools.
Somyo, in his policy speech last month, said the process of centralising procurement was “to address shortcomings regarding fraud and corruption in SCM environment”.
Education MEC Mandla Makupula said he was aware that there was a “discussion” at the provincial cabinet level of the sort of intervention needed in education, but declined to comment further and referred questions to Tywakadi.
Questions were sent to Motshekga’s department for a comment, but a response had not been received at the time of going to print yesterday. — msindisif@dispatch.co.za
Education boss loses his powers
Eastern Cape acting education boss Ray Tywakadi has lost administrative control of his department, with a stand-in accounting officer being deployed from the provincial treasury to run the department’s R29.4-billion budget.
Provincial treasury spokesman Nosisa Sogayise confirmed that the treasury department’s Sizakele Netshilaphala had been seconded to the education department.
The development comes amid plans by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to withdraw her formal intervention in the provincial department.
Attempts to get comment from Tywakadi were unsuccessful.
Education department provincial spokesman Loyiso Pulumani referred questions to Sogayise and education’s chief director for statutory, advisory and protocol services Phila Ngqumba.
Sogayise confirmed that Netshilaphala had been sent to education and had taken over the powers as accounting officer.
She said this was the second priority in the policy speech of finance and planning MEC Sakhumzi Somyo’s.
Sogayise said moving Netshilaphala to education was a legal action and within government’s powers.
She said treasury had the authority to recall accounting officer powers from heads of departments (HoDs) since treasury, which had overall accounting authority, delegated such authority to HoDs.
“The Public Finance Management Act allows treasury in exceptional circumstances, to approve or instruct in writing that a person other than the HoD or CEO be the accounting officer for that particular department.”
Sogayise said “with the hope of ensuring efficiencies and improving operations and basic education outcomes in the province”, treasury’s intervention would deal with:
Netshilaphala’s involvement in education comes after a decision from National Treasury to institute centralise procurement for departments.
Sogayise said learner and teacher support material (LTSM) had been identified as a programme that would be procured by treasury.
This will be the third programme to be removed from the normal programmes of education.
In 2011, the scholar transport programme was moved to the department of transport. Later, the school nutrition programme was decentralised to be managed by schools.
Somyo, in his policy speech last month, said the process of centralising procurement was “to address shortcomings regarding fraud and corruption in SCM environment”.
Education MEC Mandla Makupula said he was aware that there was a “discussion” at the provincial cabinet level of the sort of intervention needed in education, but declined to comment further and referred questions to Tywakadi.
Questions were sent to Motshekga’s department for a comment, but a response had not been received at the time of going to print yesterday. — msindisif@dispatch.co.za
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