In a bid to restore stability and good governance at the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA), Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi has removed two board members.

In a statement on Monday, the Minister said he informed Daphne Kula-Rantho and Boitumelo Mabusela of his decision to remove them from the board.

‘I have removed the individuals, who are currently employed as civil servants, for failing to obtain approval and to provide evidence of permission from their employers to conduct additional remunerative work outside their official roles, as is required by law,’ Minister Malatsi said.

The decision for their removal is in line with Clause 13 of the Governance Agreement, in relation to the Section 83 of the Public Finance Management Act that empowers the Minister to dismiss board members due to financial misconduct.

Minister Malatsi said that over the past few weeks, he has repeatedly engaged with both individuals and given them opportunities to submit ev
idence which would indicate that they have upheld the prescripts of the law, however, they have failed to do so.

‘I went further and engaged their employers to request proof of any approvals to earn additional renumeration, outside of their official roles.

‘The responses indicate that no such approval was given. Prior to that, my predecessor Mondli Gungubele, proactively pursued the same request but was not provided such,’ he said.

Furthermore, the Minister said the Auditor General has flagged that all board fees earned by the duo will be categorised as irregular expenditure and has indicated that the Department of Communications and Digital Technology (DCDT) should recover these monies.

To date the two individuals have collected R1 651 960.89 in board fees which they were not legally entitled to.

The breakdown is as follows:

Ms Kula-Rantho received R1 288 966.87 over period March 2021 to July 2024.

Ms Mabusela received R362 994.02 in board fees over period October 2023 to July 2024

‘Let me be clear
, we will not tolerate the abuse of public funds for the benefit of individuals who fail to uphold the laws of our country. I have instructed the Director-General of the DCDT to immediately initiate processes to recover the money.

‘At the same time, I have instructed the DCDT to work with the acting CEO of USAASA, Luyanda Ndlovu, to conduct an independent investigation into on the veracity of allegations of abuse of state resources against another board member, Simphiwe Thobela,’ the Minister said.

Minister Malatsi added that a process to replace the two board members will immediately be initiated in order to restore stability and strengthen good governance at USAASA, which is entrusted to promote universal access and universal service to every woman, man and child across the length and breadth of South Africa.

Source: South African Government News Agency