High earners milk KZN govt department coffers on bursaries for themselves
|Published
File Picture:. Picture Henk Kruger/African News Agency(ANA)
Durban - KWAZULU-NATAL’S Public Works head of department (HOD) Dr Gaster Sharpley is in hot water for allegedly approving departmental bursaries for himself and six other directors to further their business studies in the midst of austerity measures and budget cuts due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Critics who alerted the Daily News said the focus should have been on funding engineering studies, as the department still spends lots of money on private consultants who provide services in this critical and scarce field.
The department had set aside a combined total of more than R2.5 million for Sharpley, who already has a PhD, and six other directors to study towards a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at Henley Business School this year.
Other beneficiaries of the bursaries are deputy director Sibongile Nombewu; acting deputy director-general Andaleeb Khan; director of supply chain management Sizwe Tsama; provincial information director Xolile Ntanzi; disposals and lettings director Anwar Cassim; and M Khumalo (whose full name and directorship could not be confirmed).
Each official was given tuition fees of R285 500, including VAT.
They were also allocated R50 000 each to travel to Johannesburg to attend workshops at Henley Africa Campus.
This was also in contravention of the department’s bursary policy, which states that: “The Department shall not be responsible for providing official transport in respect of registration, seminars and attendance of classes and or examination.
“Applicants must make their own arrangements for admission to a recognised institution within close proximity to their workstation.”
The policy also says the bursary should prioritise scarce skills within the department, such as engineering (electrical, mechanical, civil and structural), quantity surveying, architecture, real estate and other technical fields of study.
However, it also states that bursaries may be granted to serving employees who intend obtaining a post-graduate qualification, provided that the course content is specifically addressing a skills gap in terms of management acumen identified “in the needs analysis conducted between the employee and his/ her line manager”.
It was unclear whether MEC Peggy Nkonyeni approved Sharpley’s bursary and on what basis as the KZN department spokesperson, Kiru Naidoo, did not answer this question.
According to a letter from the human resources management, which was leaked to Independent Media, the bursaries were issued “in terms of Regulation 76 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016”.
Last week, the Daily News exposed the department for awarding a three year contract of more than R2m a year to Quinton Williams Consulting Pty (Ltd) to undertake work that should have been assigned to permanent officials, such as providing administrative support to project management teams in the regions, and ensuring compliance and verification of delegations, as well as support to the department on strategic matters, and dealing with all emails that affect matters of compliance, reviewing the performance agreement of SMS (senior management service) and aligning it to the MEC’s policy speech.
The request for the bursaries came from human resource management and it was supported by the corporate services section and chief financial officer, Jeremy Redfearn.
Justifying the bursaries, the human resources unit said the department was seeking to empower its employees “in an endeavour to promote and enhance service delivery in the public service.
“To this end, it was determined that a Master’s degree in business administration will fulfil this purpose,” reads the leaked letter from the human resources.
Critics, including DA MPL Martin Meyer, who is a member of the public works portfolio committee, who said the department should have observed economic austerity.
The department had considered three institutions to register the officials for MBAs. According to its website, Henley charges R264 500, while the University of KwaZulu-Natal charges R70 000, and the University of Pretoria R142 500. But the department had found Henley to be the most suitable.
“Henley is one of the few business schools in the world to have passed the auditing standards of AACSB (US), Amba (UK) and Equis (EU) – the three leading accreditation bodies,” reads the letter.
Concerned officials said since the bursary beneficiaries earned huge salaries, they could afford to pay for their own studies.
“Right now, the department is still dependent on consultants for engineering, quantity surveying, architecture, property valuation and construction project management services, yet the department decided to grant bursaries for the skills that are not that much needed and to people who can afford to pay for their own studies,” said one official.
Meyer, who intends to have the matter discussed at the portfolio committee, expressed concern about the bursaries, which were awarded after the department’s budget had been massively cut due to the pandemic.
He said the lack of engineering skills within the department had forced the department to spend huge amounts of money on consultants because it does not have the necessary skills.
“So this money could have been better spent on developing young engineers, surveyors from disadvantaged backgrounds, instead of training a large number of MBAs, and people whose salaries are exceptionally high as HODs and directors.
UKZN is recognised as a top university in the world.
“Studying at UKZN would have been cheaper in tuition and cut out the R50 000 travel allowance per person,” he said.
Naidoo said the awarding of the bursaries was consistent with the department’s interpretation of the policy, but added “in any instance where there are errors, corrective measures are put in place”.
“While he (Sharpley) is entitled to the bursary, the HOD is considering withdrawing from the course to protect the integrity of both the institution (department) and the university.
The participants have signed agreements where they cover their own travel and related expenses,” he said.
Naidoo said UKZN was the first port of call but was unable to accommodate the department’s request.
Daily News