The rot at the Master’s Office is “worse than anyone thought”, says advocate Doctor Mashabane, the director-general of the justice department.
In an exclusive interview with News24, Mashabane said he was shocked to see how external parties were trying to get suspended officials off the hook.
He said he had personally received emails from liquidators who referred to the suspended officials as their “comrades” and demanded that they be reinstated.
“That’s the biggest headache, where you have serious syndicates and organised crime issues. And that’s a matter we are referring to law enforcement,” he said, adding that a report by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) now needed to be followed up by the Hawks.
“Why would people from outside fight to defend officials? Department officials are public servants. They are bound by the disciplinary code when they take up their job. When we discipline them, we get intimidation from outside,” he said.
Mashabane has been accused by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) of alleged sexual harassment and nepotism.
The union has also accused him of irregularly suspending the department’s deputy director-general for corporate services, Conny Mametja.
Mashabane insists that the accusations, from anonymous individuals, have been manufactured to discredit him and derail his fight against corruption.
The SIU investigation included allegations of ghost employees, abuse of travel, subsistence and accommodation costs, irregular appointment of staff and service providers, irregular procurement, bribery and much, much more.