Yet another whistleblower report regarding corruption and mismanagement at the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) has come to light, providing detailed accounts of long-standing governance failures, naming both current and former employees, board members and public officials implicated in years of dysfunction.

The report, which was sent in the form of a letter by SABS employees to Engineering News and several key stakeholders, paints a picture of serious long-standing internal divisions and ongoing power struggles within the institution.

Democratic Alliance parliamentary member and Trade, Industry and Competition spokesperson Toby Chance said the letter, which was simply signed-off as "SABS Employees" reinforced the emerging picture of “rot” at the organisation, with Chance concerned that the problems ran even deeper than previously exposed.

Currently, the SABS is undergoing an independent investigation by private contractor TSU International – the investigative arm of international security firm TSU Protective Services. The investigation, which was commissioned by Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau, is expected to conclude at the end of May.

Chance confirmed that the information contained in the report would be shared with Tau and the TSU team so that it could be factored into the investigation. However, he urged that the investigation be concluded sooner, as he considered the May 31 deadline unnecessarily prolonged.

“The rot of mismanagement, nepotism, corporate governance failures and power struggles at the SABS is growing deeper [and is] a situation far worse than just isolated issues. This latest letter lays bare the depth of the management collapse at the SABS.”

“I insist that . . . Tau speed up the investigation. The investigation must include the board of directors, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders in the SABS value chain, past and present.

“If necessary, TSU International must be empowered to commit additional resources to the investigation to ensure a thorough and detailed report. It appears that we cannot wait until the May 31 deadline for this investigation, because every day things are getting worse at the SABS,” Chance said.

The allegations in the letter are summarised below. The names of the individuals involved have been redacted.

According to the letter, in 2012, during a period of industrial action at the SABS, the then Trade, Industry and Competition Minister intervened and instructed the CEO at the time to accede to the employees’ demands. However, no additional financial support was provided by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) to accommodate these demands, the employees say.

Over subsequent years, the dtic progressively reduced its grant allocations to the SABS, forcing the organisation to scale back employee benefits. This has led to widespread dissatisfaction among the workforce.

One significant consequence of this situation was the emergence of inequitable remuneration structures. Employees who fall under the bargaining council continue to enjoy legacy benefits, whereas middle management staff do not, resulting in scenarios where subordinates earn more than their supervisors.

It is understood from credible sources that middle management personnel have raised these concerns with the SABS board. However, the current executive has not acted on the matter.

Additionally, the same Minister dissolved the existing SABS board at the time and dismissed the CEO without making the necessary appointments to replace them.

The situation worsened under the next Minister who reportedly failed to take meaningful action, including neglecting to sign critical documents or signing them belatedly. Although a shortlist of recommended candidates for the CEO position was submitted in 2023, a permanent appointment has yet to be made, leaving the organisation in a state of operational uncertainty.

While a new board was established in December 2022, more than four of its members have since resigned, and the dtic has not intervened to address the governance vacuum.

The letter stated that the SABS employees believed the dtic had consistently failed the organisation and broader technical infrastructure institutions, treating them with detachment and indifference rather than as integral components of its mandate.

It was alleged that the dtic acting director-general had never made an appearance at the SABS, and that their identity remained unknown to employees. It was also alleged that the dtic continued to issue directives to the SABS while offering no substantive support, resulting in a dysfunctional relationship.

Engineering News reached out to the dtic for comment on these allegations but received no response.

Finally, the working conditions within SABS laboratories were described as substandard, with outdated infrastructure in urgent need of modernisation.

“We work in laboratories that have very old infrastructure. The SABS needs serious infrastructure upgrades. Maybe the organisation must just be moved altogether from that building,” the letter said.

RETRENCHMENTS

The retrenchment initiative at the SABS, executed by the lead administrator through a voluntary severance programme in 2024, was allegedly implemented not to improve the organisation, but rather to obscure the absence of meaningful progress under their leadership, according to the letter.

The whistleblower statement alleged that the restructuring resulted in a regression rather than a turnaround, leading to the departure of critical skills, significant job losses and an increase in workloads for the remaining staff, many of whom are now performing the responsibilities of multiple individuals while experiencing distress and insufficient remuneration.

The same lead administrator and those closely associated with her at the dtic were alleged to have appointed all current SABS executives and divisional heads on a permanent basis.

Despite this, she declined to appoint a COO, citing financial constraints.

This justification was reportedly in contradiction to established SABS policy, which requires budget approval before the advertisement of any executive post. It was further alleged that this individual deliberately withheld the COO appointment because she was interested in assuming the role.

ORGANISATIONAL REVIEW AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The same lead administrator was also alleged to have initiated and overseen an organisational review under the guise of a turnaround strategy. This review was allegedly conducted by a consultancy with known associations to a family member.

Meanwhile, according to the letter, one board member was alleged to have bullied and intimated staff members, while another was alleged to have regularly attended board meetings under the influence of alcohol.

Other staff members, meanwhile, were accused of allowing the theft of SABS equipment and assets, operating private businesses during work hours and from the SABS offices and being abusive to other staff members, among other instances of misconduct.

CALLING FOR URGENT ACTION

Chance said it was time to take urgent and decisive corrective steps to restore credibility, stability, and functionality to the SABS on the basis of the TSU investigation.

“The allegations made over the past nine months, both anonymous and attributed, paint a disturbing picture of systemic mismanagement that cannot be ignored. The stakes are too high for half-measures because the SABS is a vital institution. The standards applied to consumer and industrial products are literally matters of life or death for the users of those products, if the SABS gets things wrong.

“The SABS must be rescued from ongoing decay and set firmly on the path to becoming a world-class standards body once again,” Chance said.