Official Implicated in Corruption Appointed Head of KZN Social Development

A former Gauteng official implicated in corruption by forensic investigations has been appointed head of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development.

• A former Gauteng official implicated in corruption by forensic investigations has been appointed head of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development.
• Onkemetse Edwin Kabasia is accused of failing to prevent over R600-million in irregular spending.
• Although briefly suspended with 13 other officials named in the reports, no disciplinary processes were completed and his name has not been cleared.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development (DSD) has appointed a former Gauteng official implicated in corruption as its new head of department, since 1 October. Onkemetse Edwin Kabasia is implicated in multiple forensic investigations into procurement irregularities in Gauteng.

Between 2016 and 2018 Kabasia was deputy director-general (DDG) for NPO Partnership and Finance, then for Social Welfare Services, and later the acting department head of Gauteng social development. During this period, several forensic investigations were conducted by law firm Bowmans and auditors BDO.

The investigations uncovered evidence of fraud and corruption by department officials and a handful of non-profit organisations and businesspeople. The reports found that Kabasia failed to maintain proper oversight and allowed widespread circumvention of procurement processes, leading to irregular expenditure.

The reports were finalised in 2019, but were hidden from the public until 2024.

According to the reports, Kabasia’s actions contributed to irregular expenditure exceeding R600-million, mostly through the irregular appointment of non-profit organisations to manage food banks, and school uniform and dignity pack programmes.

In his role as social welfare deputy director general, investigators found that Kabasia neglected to ensure compliance with internal controls and did not vet non-profit organisation board members before signing service-level agreements.

During his tenure, Kabasia’s failure to implement internal controls led to department employees being able to circumvent normal supply chain management processes.

The investigation findings stated that Kabasia, along with several other department officials, failed to ensure that an effective internal control process was in place to monitor and evaluate the process being followed when selecting which organisations should be funded. They also failed to ensure that service agreements were monitored.

July Maphosa, then director of Gauteng DSD’s sustainable livelihoods programme, was able to get away with telling organisations who they should appoint as suppliers. As GroundUp previously reported, many of these suppliers shared directors and other links.

Kabasia told investigators that he was surprised to find that sourcing food for foodbank organisations was conducted by DSD officials, yet he was in fact in charge of the programme.

According to the findings, Kabasia also “failed to implement a system for the vetting of non-profit organisation board members”. This included five organisations in the foodbanks programme.

See no evil, hear no evil

The office of the premier appoints the heads of department, and to date, the KZN DSD has not been notified of any findings related to Kabasia in connection with the forensic reports, said Thuba Vilane, the department’s spokesperson.

“Should any competent authority require further action, the department will fully cooperate in line with the applicable prescripts,” said Vilane.

Similar questions were also sent to Lindelani Mbatha, KZN Premier Thami Ntuli’s spokesperson. Mbatha said the premier has not been “formally advised” of any disciplinary action against Kabasia stemming from the Gauteng provincial government.

The report and its implementation of its recommendations falls under the jurisdiction of the Gauteng government, said Mbatha. The premier’s office could not exclude an application based on a report “whose recommendations have not been actioned by the relevant authority”, he said.

According to Mbatha, the premier does not participate in the verification of individual candidates, but rather he oversees and makes sure that the legally prescribed recruitment and selection processes are followed without deviation. In the case of Kabasia, all recruitment processes were adhered to, he said.

Thorough vetting was done, and prior to an appointment being formalised, candidates must be loadable onto the government’s Persal system, which cannot be done “if there were any records of disciplinary action or a finalised negative finding against them”, said Mbatha.

Suspension

But in 2024, Mbali Hlophe, then MEC of Gauteng DSD, suspended 13 officials named in the forensic reports. In advertorials, paid for by the department, Hlophe explained that the suspensions followed forensic audits into the department’s funding of non-profit organisations and formed part of her broader crackdown on corruption within the department.

Themba Gadebe, Hlophe’s spokesperson at the time, previously told GroundUp that the findings had been referred to the Hawks “for further criminal investigations”.

Following the 2024 May elections, Hlophe was removed as MEC, and by July, all of the suspended officials had returned to work. None of the officials and Kabasia, ever faced any full disciplinary hearings.

“I became aware of the reports upon assuming office in October 2022. They had been neglected for years despite containing serious findings requiring corrective action,” Hlophe told GroundUp in a recent interview.

The investigators did not know why disciplinary action had not been taken against the officials, including Kabasia, even though the reports recommended the department do so, she said.

According to Hlophe, some disciplinary hearings began during her tenure, but less than a month after her removal, all 13 suspensions were lifted.

“The disciplinary process was removed from the department and moved to the [Gauteng] premier’s office. Over a year has now passed and no progress appears to have been made on those disciplinary cases or on implementing the forensic recommendations.”

Questions addressed to Kabasia regarding him being mentioned in the reports and his suspension were sent to him via Vilane. “Please be advised that the HOD won’t be responding to questions concerning the department in his personal capacity,” responded Vilane.

We sent questions to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s office. We were told to query the Gauteng DSD.

Gauteng DSD spokesperson Busi Kheswa told us that there are ongoing disciplinary hearings for officials implicated in the report, but none have been finalised.

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