A criminal case has been opened against a senior provincial transport department official, who allegedly falsified and claimed to possess an NQF level 7 qualification, while he did not, when applying for his deputy director job in 2023.
The official, who cannot be named as he could not be reached on Monday, was exposed when a losing candidate challenged his appointment at the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council (GPSSBC).
Now, labour union Nehawu has written to the authorities demanding the official be removed while the investigation unfolds.
The union further alleges that recruitment and selection policy was flouted when the appointment was made, as the department deviated from the qualifications required to accommodate this official.
Hawks provincial spokesperson Warrant-Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana confirmed that the case had been handed to them after being opened at the Qonce police station.
“The matter involves serious allegations of fraud and corruption, and due to its sensitivity, and in the interest of protecting the integrity of the investigative process, the identity of the complainant cannot be disclosed.
“The team of investigators recently commenced work on the case, placing the investigation in its preliminary phase,” Mhlakuvana said on Monday.
Nehawu shop steward Nkosinathi Malinga confirmed writing to head of department Andile Fani, demanding the immediate removal of the official.
The union gave Fani until Friday to act.
In the letter to Fani, Nehawu accuses another senior official, who chaired the recruitment panel, of deviating from the required qualifications for the job without obtaining necessary approval from Fani.
They want action taken against her as well.
Nehawu told Fani that “our resolve is that the [official] was irregularly appointed, in a position that requires someone who is objective, impartial, properly qualified and of sound mind, with no cloud hanging over his head. In the circumstances, [this official] cannot meet these.”
Nehawu’s letter comes after a bargaining council arbitration award on July 14, and which confirmed that the official in question did not possess the required qualifications.
The arbitration was started in September 2023 and concluded on June 19 2025, with the award issued on July 14.
Bargaining council commissioner Solomzi Mpiko, in his award, found both the applicant and this official did not possess the necessary qualifications to be appointed in the post.
The minimum requirements were a national diploma (NQF level 6) or a bachelor’s degree (NQF level 7) and three years’ experience as an assistant director.
“It is not disputed that both the applicant and the successful candidate did not have the stipulated academic qualifications, but had submitted academic qualifications which they claimed to be similar to those in the advert.
“It is, however, not disputed that the applicant did not have the required national diploma, which is generally known as a three-year qualification, but a diploma which was of a lesser duration.
“The successful candidate too, did not have a national diploma, but a programme ‘recommended’ at NQF level 7.
“None of them had the required bachelor’s degree,” Mpiko wrote in his arbitration award.
“The [department’s] evidence was that it deviated from the advert and shortlisted all the candidates that applied, including the applicant, and gave them an opportunity to compete irrespective of what academic qualifications they had.
“However, neither the applicant nor the successful candidate would have been shortlisted had the [department] not [deviated] from the advert.”
The department’s spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, said they were aware of the criminal case opened against the official.
However, he said the department would “take the view of innocent until proven otherwise”.
“We can only wait for feedback from the South African Qualifications Authority, as all qualifications of employees are subjected to that verification process.”
Binqose said many other employees had had their qualifications subjected to that process and that “this is not unique to the case of [this official]”.
This is not the first time the department had been rocked by similar alleged recruitment irregularities.
In November 2024, it was reported that 13 senior administration bosses at the department, whose appointments were red-flagged as irregular by the Public Service Commission more than five years ago, were still at work, drawing fat salaries.
This is despite the fact that the employees had tried and failed to have the PSC’s findings set aside in court in February 2023.
In November 2019, the PSC found they were unqualified for their lucrative posts and recommended they be demoted to their original positions.
The officials include the personal assistant of former MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe, who was promoted to director, and an intern who joined the department in 2014 and just a year later was promoted to assistant director.
Daily Dispatch
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