SABS Remains in a Critical Condition

Statement by Toby Chance MP – DA Spokesperson on Trade, Industry and Competition:

Today’s Trade, Industry and Competition portfolio committee meeting on the findings, recommendations and actions emanating from TSU International’s forensic investigation into governance failures at the SABS revealed that the institution remains in a critical condition.

Minister Tau appointed TSU in February 2025 after sustained pressure from the Democratic Alliance following numerous allegations received from whistleblowers about dysfunction and maladministration at the standards body.

The report found that 20 allegations raised were unsubstantiated while 15 were substantiated. Of the latter, management’s failure to implement recommendations from the Auditor General and State Security Agency on cyber security received in February 2022, which enabled the serious cyber attack on the SABS in November 2024, was perhaps the most serious.

Other substantiated allegations include the partial suspension of accreditation of cement laboratories in July 2024; the unauthorised appointment of the then-Acting CEO by a board member; the appointment of the Head: Human Capital though she did not meet the minimum criteria per the advertisement requirements; and appointments of employees on fixed term contracts for positions that are permanent on the organisational structure.

Many of the substantiated allegations point to systematic manipulation of appointments by the rotating then-Acting CEOs, both of whom are suspended pending disciplinary hearings set to commence in June and to be completed by the end of July.

After the meeting concluded, I was contacted by an SABS staff member who had watched the meeting on YouTube. The staff member maintained that the suspended Acting CEOs were continuing their manipulative practices, working through other executives who were part of their cabal. This supports the comments made by SABS Chairperson Professor Bismark Tyobeka that the institution is beset by factional battles, making it hard to get to the truth.

Acting-CEO Blake Mosley-Lefatola’s claim in the meeting that no known whistleblowers are currently on suspension is disputable, for at least one suspension letter has been issued to a whistleblower in the last two weeks, seen by the Democratic Alliance.

Another concern is that Mr Mosley-Lefatola arrived at the SABS last July without a support team untainted by the factional battles of the past. It is essential that his closest staff and members of his executive team buy in to the clean-up of the SABS otherwise the TSU report’s findings will have little long-term impact.

The DA is encouraged by Deputy Minister Abrahams’s commitment to keep up the pressure to ensure a capable and ethical state as well as consequence management at the SABS. We will be requiring sight of the quarterly reports the SABS has committed to send to her and Minister Tau on progress in restoring impeccable governance in this crucial state institution.