The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling on the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Lebogang Maile to urgently investigate whether Sedibeng District Municipality is awarding the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority (LGSETA) bursaries in line with the policy regulations.
The DA has been reliably informed that the daughter of Sedibeng Director for Human Resources, Mr W.M. Ramotsedisi, is allegedly among three people who have received the bursaries.
We are also in possession of a letter from the Director for Human Resources addressed to the Municipal Manager (MM), requesting the MM to approve a payment of R66 445,47 for re-imbursement of bursary holders on behalf of the LGSETA.
The letter states the names of the bursary beneficiaries which allegedly includes the daughter of the Director for Human Resources. It further states that the bursaries are for unemployed members of the community.
Such bursaries are meant to be allocated to the poor and unemployed, who come from underprivileged families and cannot afford tertiary education fees.
The Director for Human Resources earns a competitive and market related salary from the municipality and can certainly afford his daughter’s tertiary education costs.
The DA has also tabled questions to MEC Maile at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to ascertain the policy regulations of the bursaries, whether the daughter of the Director qualifies for the bursary and to determine whether the process of awarding bursaries was transparent and fair.
Should it be found that the bursary applications were not advertised, and the process was not transparent and fair, Ramotsedisi and his daughter must pay back the bursary money.
There are too many unemployed youths in Sedibeng who are denied such opportunities to apply for bursaries because of corruption in the system. This system of patronage and nepotism must end now.