Youth group wants corrupt officials to fall in chicken march

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FED UP: SAYC members in Nkangala say the want the government to crack down on corrupt officials. PICTURE BY Thandeka Skhosana

The following is a memorandum that was delivered to the national director of the department of rural development and land reform on 9 November 2016 and in it, the South African Youth Council names and shames corrupt officials, calling for the director to investigate and sack them.


THANDEKA SKHOSANA


 

This memorandum is addressed to the director general of the department of rural development and land reform, Mr. Mduduzi Shabane.

His intervention is here by sought by the locally based youth group and various youth formations who are bona fide residents of the Thembisile Hani sub-region where our wonderful government, led by the ANC, has funded a poultry project through the rural developmet and land reform department.

The project is led by KwaMhlanga Poultry Project and well driven by capable local farmers but it is so sad and disturbing that the local people were bulldozed by certain greedy and selfish officials from the district’s rural development and land reform office based in eMalahleni and others based in the provincial shared services centre in Mbombela using their positions and influence to include their cronies so that they can also benefit.

People as far as Limpopo province, Mbombela, eMalahleni and Hamanskraal were put in the project at the expense of the local people.

This was done without following proper procedures of selecting the deserving beneficiaries in the project and over-looking the poverty-stricken local community.

In this instance, one official, by the name of Dan Nyoni, misused his position and forced local farmers to accept people from Limpopo, eMalahleni, Hamanstraal and Mbombela to become part of the project which should be benefiting the locals.

He (Dan Nyoni) put his brother-in-law by the name of Sibusiso Mavuso who was initially staying in eMalahleni but now resides in Hamanskraal.  This is backed by the Company Registration Certificate of the entity led by Sibusiso, called Emalahleni Youth Farmers’ Co-operative Limited, which bears the name of Patience Nyoni, who is Sibusiso’s sister and Dan Nyoni’s wife.

Dan Nyoni is working in partnership with his colleague Victor Madubanya, brought his family from Polokwane in the Limpopo province.

This information can be backed by the Company Registration Certificate, a company called Van Dykspruit Farmers’ Co-operative Limited, which bears the two names of Mr. Madubanya’s relatives working with Jimmy-Hendrix Mkhwanazi who resides in Mbombela and close friend to Mandla George Philison.

Dan Nyoni and Victor Madubanya worked in partnership with an ex-official from the department of agriculture by the name of John Skhosana, who was based at the KwaMhlanga district office and who put his wife in the co-operative, called Sabelizipho Trading (Pty) Ltd, led by Mbalenhle Pertunia Masinga, who resides in Witbank. This clearly indicates the chain of corrupt officials aiming to unduly benefit from projects meant for poor people.

It is so sad that all this happened with approval and assistance from district manager, Harold Skhosana, of the district rural development and land reform department in eMalahleni.

Hence, Harold Skhosana too put his son by the name of Vusi Reginald Skhosana, as one of the beneficiaries through an entity called Amathamana-ka-Musi which was later changed and a new company was introduced by the name of Ntandoyami Trading Cc. where he is expected to benefit with his other cousin who is a doctor by the name of Peter Petros Skosana, a medical doctor.

If this is not corruption and nepotism then our policies of government are useless.

Vusi Skhosana has now turned to be a spy for the expelled members who were not even supposed to be part of this project from the beginning; he is recording meetings of the members of KwaMhlanga poultry project without their knowledge and giving these recordings to the expelled members.

Thabang Motaung is one other official who had his cronies targeted to benefit from the project; however since the chief director, Ms Zanele Sihlangu, who must be commended for her swift action, ordered that all those involved must fill-in screening forms; many of these proxy farmers brought by the officials disappeared as they were going to be exposed.

Thabang Motaung wanted to take screening forms to his people who are staying in Secunda.

Mandla George Philison as the main driver and close friend to Dan Nyoni; leads Amabutho Investments (Pty) Limited and this entity has only two (2), himself and his wife Lizzie Phumzile Philison.

Mandla is used to fight the legitimate and bona fide local farmers who are managing KwaMhlanga poultry project because together with his cronies from the department as abovementioned aimed at using the project as their milking cow.

Together with his friend Sibusiso Mavuso, Mandla fights for their reinstatement into the project so that they can fulfill the corrupt intentions they strategically planned with the abovementioned officials.

EXPECTED ACTION FROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL AND THE DEPARTMENT

1. The officials listed in this memorandum must be suspended with immediate effect and investigated for their actions and involvement in bringing instability to this project.

2. The department must also confirm the expulsion of the members brought by these officials coming out of the borders of Thembisile Hani sub-region.

3. The department must also fulfill its mandate of supporting the project to achieve its potential of building seven (7) environmentally controlled houses as planned through the submission of the Business Plan.  This will galvanise the provision of jobs, economic spin-offs and other related benefits to the local community.

4. After findings of the demanded investigations about the involved officials as mentioned in this memorandum, the department must decisively act on the findings and made these finding public. If these officials are found to have acted wrongly, the department must immediately expel these corrupt officials as they do not deserve to be civil servants.

5. The director general is expected to write a letter confirming the project’s support from the department and acceptance of the local youth that was introduced to make sure that the locals are well catered for.

6. The department must also investigate all projects funded since 2000 till to date and uproot all the corrupt activities that are found to have happened.

7. Also investigate how people lost their farms and how others got to be allocated farms by Dan Nyoni and his colleagues.

8. The response and plan of action on the listed complains, is expected within 14 days from the date of receipt of this memorandum.

*Thandeka Skhosana is sub-regional secretary of the South African Youth Council.