The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday filed a supplementary ethics complaint against Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Nobuhle Nkabane and announced its intention to escalate the matter to Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka.

The party is accusing Nkabane of allegedly misleading Parliament, and claims she lied to Parliament, violating the ethics code as a Minister.

DA member on the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training Karabo Khakhau explained that the standing complaint relates to Nkabane allegedly misleading Parliament, when she stated that the panel tasked with appointing the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) board chairperson consisted of independent people, and subsequently informed Parliament that they were not independent at all.

Following the disclosure by Nkabane of the names of the panel tasked with appointing the SETA board chairperson, the DA said it had now learned that one of the members of the panel Advocate Terry Motau, wrote to Nkabane claiming that he had nothing to do with the process.

“…however, now in light of the new information that an alleged member of the panel denies participating, one can only wonder if a panel did ever exist, or whether the Minister simply provided a list of names to Parliament of persons she believed would cover for her,” Khakhau said.

The DA’s supplementary ethics complaint comes in addition to the ethics complaint submitted on Tuesday against Nkabane.

Khakhau said the party believed that the level of “deceit and misleading” of Parliament violates the Executive Members Ethics Code, for which the Public Protector has jurisdiction to investigate and make findings.

“…therefore, the DA has reported Minister Nkabane to the Public Protector for investigation into the serious breach of the Executive Members Ethics Code in numerous counts of misleading Parliament,” she said.

Khakhau further alleged that Nkabane has since remained “evasive, refusing to answer questions, delaying the disclosure” of the names of the panel.

The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training on Wednesday expressed concern that it was misled about the composition of the panel responsible for recommending appointments to the boards of SETAs.

Committee member Tebogo Letsie said the information provided in the letter written by Nkabane, did not reflect the independence initially claimed, which he said raised serious questions about the transparency and integrity of the appointment process.
 
The committee has recommended that Nkabane appear before it alongside her Deputy Ministers Buti Manamela, the director-general Dr Nkosinathi Sishi, and members of the independent panel to explain the process and respond to the committee’s concerns.

The committee said the names submitted appeared to be an extension of the Ministry and not an independent panel, as previously claimed.