GC PAPENFUS – CEO: National Employers Association of South Africa
An open letter to Mkhuleko Hlengwa, COPA Chairperson and Bheki Hadebe,
ANC Member of Parliament
Dear Sirs
The National Employers’ Association of South Africa (NEASA) wishes to congratulate you on the manner in which you took the Compensation Commissioner and the Minister of Employment and Labour to task in respect of their dismal failure to address the myriad of issues that plague the Compensation Fund.
NEASA welcomes any intervention that addresses the rot, maladministration and corruption that seems to be at the order of the day in most government institutions.
We are led to understand that the Minister of Employment and Labour has been requested to initiate a tender process for the appointment of a suitable service provider, to conduct a forensic audit on the Compensation Fund, and that the Minister is required to provide feedback on the progress made in this regard shortly.
It is NEASA’s view that it would be proper to impress upon the Minister the need to conclude the appointment of a service provider on an urgent basis, as the issues at the Fund have been ongoing for a number of years and should have been addressed ages ago. Therefore, there can be no acceptable reason to delay this matter for months or years as it will simply exacerbate the, already dire, situation at the Fund and allow the culprits to slip away.
The Minister should also be directed that the adjudication process, aimed at identifying the service provider to conduct the forensic audit, should be situated outside of the Compensation Fund. This will ensure that anyone who may be implicated by the audit does not interfere in the appointment of the service provider. This will go a long way in achieving transparency and impartiality, as well as lending credibility to the process.
Should we wish to bring South Africa back from the edge that it is currently teetering on, it is paramount that government institutions are brought to book for any maladministration and corrupt activities and that they are cleaned up to become transparent and functional entities.
We are confident that you will continue to monitor the progress made and processes implemented in respect of this extremely important issue.
