By Doreen Mokgolo
- The president has given the go-ahead for an investigation into possible theft and misuse of training money.
- The minister says her department will hand over all records and past reports to help with the case.
The Department of Higher Education says it will help with a major investigation into claims of corruption, poor spending, and dodgy deals at the National Skills Fund.
The government has launched an investigation into the National Skills Fund after claims of dodgy contracts and wasted money. Minister of Higher Education Nobuhle Pamela Nkabane says her department will give all the help it can.
Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed an order to allow investigators to check how the fund awarded contracts and spent money on training programmes. They are looking into deals that took place from 1 January to 28 March this year.
The investigation will cover payments to companies and individuals linked to the training projects. It also follows questions asked in Parliament and reports in the media.
Nkabane, who is in charge of the fund, said that a meeting between the investigators and the fund has already taken place. The team handed over a letter to confirm that the investigation has officially started.
She said: “The meeting provided an opportunity for a full brief on the scope of the investigation and what will be required from the entity to assist the investigation.”
She promised that the fund would do what is needed. “The National Skills Fund is a law-abiding entity under my department. We will fully participate and provide all necessary information,” said Nkabane.
She said they would hand over all internal reports and anything else the investigators need to get to the bottom of what happened.
The investigation is looking at how the fund paid for skills projects and training deals.
The goal is to find out if money was wasted or stolen and to try to recover it.
Picture above: Dr Nobuhle Pamela Nkabane.
Image source: Minister Dr Nobuhle Pamela Nkabane
