CCMA ruling allows CETA to discipline employee who misused whistleblower status
Image: Picture: Bonile Bam
The Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) has been given the go-ahead to proceed with disciplinary action against a senior employee who had claimed whistleblower protection.
This comes after the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) found in a recent decision that the employee, who was seeking protection as a whistleblower, did not make his or her disclosures 'sincerely, honestly and in good faith and thus cannot be regarded as protected disclosures to be protected against occupational detriment'.
According to CETA, the employee had attempted to halt disciplinary proceedings by invoking the Protected Disclosure Act of 2000, 'disguising themselves as a whistleblower when they were not.'
The employee is facing a raft of serious charges, including violation of supply chain management policies leading to irregular expenditure, breach of contract management policies, leaking of confidential information, misrepresentation, fraud, and forgery – including the alleged forging of the CEO's signature.
In a statement, CETA CEO Malusi Shezi said that the 'ruling by CCMA confirms that there was never any whistleblower to start with. We welcome this ruling as very critical for applying consequences management against serious transgressions.'
Shezi said that 'what we have here is someone who sought to play victim by posing as a whistleblower and proceeded to conduct a smear campaign against the CEO and the CETA Board. The facts should be ventilated, and appropriate determination be made in due processes.'
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CETA noted that the employee's disclosures were only made in August 2019, three months after a forensic investigation report implicating the same official was issued to the CETA board. The employee was suspended in June 2023 and is accused of violating suspension conditions by contacting the Ministry of Higher Education and Training.
'From the time I assumed office in 2021, one of my key goals has been to eliminate corrupt practices and malfeasance and bring clean governance and administration at CETA. This ruling not only vindicates us but gives us confidence to proceed with action we believe will help clean up the rot and cancer plaguing the Sector Education Training Authorities,' Shezi said.
These developments come just days after the employee, identified as Tumi, appeared on a podcast with the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) during which she made allegations of corruption within CETA.
In her interview with OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage, Tumi detailed her efforts to combat what she described as irregularities in CETA's procurement processes.
'I thought it was about time that I break my silence. I've been quiet for quite some time and enduring this abuse,' Tumi said in the interview. She said that when she joined SETA in March 2012, it was under administration.
Tumi stated she was 'deliberate in adhering to compliance with supply chain management best practices yet was repeatedly suspended and victimised,' highlighting what she described as systemic issues within CETA.
She further claimed that, around 2015 and 2016, she flagged procurement irregularities, resulting in her being sent on gardening leave. 'I could have prevented it, but I was not allowed to play my role, and then we, the organisation, ended up being in trouble because certain things were not done properly,' she said.
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