Sassa boss in jobs for pals scandal 2014-05-25 Cape Town - South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) boss Virginia Petersen is embroiled in yet another scandal – this time for giving jobs to pals. According to the Sunday Times, Petersen ensured that Faig Majiet, the son of a friend, was paid R9 000 per month as an intern when interns only received R4 500. Petersen also personally approved Majiet’s appointment to a six-month contract position once his internship had ended. Majiet’s mother is Shanaaz Majiet, a deputy director-general at the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and once worked closely with Petersen in the Western Cape government under former premier Ebrahim Rasool. The newspaper reported that Petersen also appointed Rasool’s sister, Naziema, as inter-governmental and stakeholder relations manager for Sassa despite her not having the required qualification. Petersen reportedly bumped up her salary and granted her extra perks. The advertisement for the job stated the salary would be an all inclusive package of R434 505 to R511 827 per annum. But Petersen approved a per annum salary of R606 579 plus a ministerial allowance of R4 245 per month and a once-off clothing allowance of R4 805. It is reported that Naziema also shares a house with Petersen. This development comes after reports emerged recently that Sassa allegedly blew more than R10m on bodyguards for social development spokesperson Lumka Oliphant and other senior officials. Tender process bypassed A little-known security company, Vuco Security Solutions, based in KwaMashu outside Durban, was allegedly awarded the multi-million rand deal – without it having been put out on tender. Among the payments made to Vuco were R1.1m for protection services for Oliphant and her family, R2.9m for protection for Petersen and Renay Ogle, general manager for fraud management and compliance, R95 460 a month since October last year to protect a whistle-blower from KwaZulu-Natal and R206 000 for a luxury Range Rover for Andile Khanyile, who is head of operations for Vuco. Documents state that Petersen instructed that most of the contracts bypass the tender process and be funded from her own office. However, in response to the allegations, Oliphant said that death threats and intimidation were some of the reasons why millions of rands had been spent on security protection services for top personnel at Sassa. - News24 * Public Servant *
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 08:20:40 +0000
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