The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Prof Blade Nzimande has become aware of the circulation of yet another set of spurious and ill-informed suggestions that he as Minister, may gain influenced the awarding of a NSFAS tender to Mr Tilson Manyoni.
Firstly, Mr Tilson Manyoni is not and has never been an advisor to the Minister, as erroneously suggested by some media houses. The names of the advisors of the Minister are matters of public record and discoverable with miniature or no difficulty.
Secondly, in terms of the Public Finance Management Act and applicable Treasury Regulations, Ministers are defined outside the value chain of procurement matters precisely to guarantee the integrity of such processes.
Therefore, Minister Nzimande had absolutely no role in the awarding of a NSFAS tender to Mr Manyoni or any other individual or company. These allegations are therefore both fraudulent and malicious.
Thirdly, the Minister is the Executive Authority and not the accounting officer of the Department of Higher Education and Training.
Therefore, any queries relating to procurement procesess at NSFAS should rightfully be directed to the Chief Executive Officer or Board of NSFAS.
It is both unfair and prankish to expect the Minister to reply questions relating to the procurement detail of entites, when such entities maintain their own accounting officers, executives and boards.
Fourthly, to ensure better stakeholder relations it is hoped that the media, civil society or political organisations will design an effort to inform themselves on the functioning of the procurement processes of public entities so as for them to design informed public commentary on matters related to public entities.
The Minister views the latest set of counterfeit allegations as fragment of the continuing attempts to tarnish his name and distract the Department from the critical task of ensuring a smooth start to the 2024 academic year.
The Minister wishes to reassure the public that, together with the executive of the Department and the leadership of the Department’s various entities, he stands firm on his commitment to ensuring that the country experiences a smooth start to the 2024 academic year.
Snowflake Pixie
Imagine jou ma skep jou kos in \’n bakkie…en die bakkie ry weg.