Minister of Social Development Sisisi Tolashe keeps it in the family with new Chief of Staff

The current Chief of Staff in the Office of the Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe, is allegedly the 22-year-old niece of Tolashe’s special adviser, Ngwako Kgatla - and her qualifications for the role are questionable.

Lesedi Mabiletja, who on Wednesday formed part of the Department of Social Development’s delegation to Parliament’s portfolio committee, has previously referred to Kgatla on Facebook as “the world’s coolest uncle”.

Mabiletja’s mother, Lekgale Mahlaku, has also referred to Kgatla on Facebook as her “brother”.

Kgatla’s close relationship with Minister Tolashe has made headlines on several occasions this year because of the allegedly preferential treatment he has received from the minister.

The Department of Social Development’s Nomfundo Xulu-Lentsoane, Acting Chief Director of Communications, responded to several queries from Daily Maverick by saying: “There are currently several investigations based on the Auditor-General South Africa reports and the general maladministration within the Department of Social Development which the current Acting Deputy Director-General for Corporate Services, Mr Xolile Brukwe, is looking into. 

“A panel has been appointed to conduct the investigations. The report from the investigations will be released to the public once it is finalised.”

Qualified to be chief of staff?

The choice of chief of staff is at the discretion of the relevant minister. It is a position on a par with some of the most senior government leaders, and is on the third highest salary band in all of government, currently worth almost R1.4-million annually in taxpayers’ money.

The post generally requires “extensive management experience, an understanding of ministerial services and parliamentary functions to take charge of the overall management of the ministry, [and] knowledge of the Public Service Management Framework and Public Finance Management Act”, according to a Mail & Guardian article exploring the controversial appointment of Jacob Zuma’s daughter to a chief of staff role while her father was president.

On the basis of the version of Mabiletja’s CV, seen by Daily Maverick, her appointment to this role in one of the most critical and complex of government departments would seem hard to justify.

Mabiletja did not respond to Daily Maverick’s questions on Wednesday.  

Mabiletja, who was born in 2002, lists as her sole qualification a Diploma in Information Technology undertaken part time at Rosebank College in Polokwane.

Her CV reveals that she has one year’s experience as “Manager Sales and Marketing” for the same college. Her duties included “distributing promotional materials and providing information about the college”.

That appears to have been her only job. She also lists “work experience as a volunteer” in the office of Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities Hlengiwe Mkhize, for three years and nine months.

Here, Mabiletja says her responsibilities included assisting “the private secretary with the arrangement of VIP security with the SAPS for the Deputy Minister” and “ensuring that the daily schedule of her appointments were properly aligned with her day to day activities, including those of the constituency”.

That a “volunteer” in the office of the deputy minister would be tasked with making security and travel arrangements for a deputy minister will surely raise eyebrows in terms of security concerns.

But more mystifying may be the relevant timeframe in which this volunteer work took place. 

Mabiletja’s CV does not give the years in which she undertook this volunteer service spanning three years and nine months, but it does state that she matriculated from Ramoba High School in 2020.

Deputy Minister Mkhize, however, died in September 2021.

Niece of a favoured adviser

Mabiletja’s allegedly close family relationship with the minister’s special adviser Kgatla raises further questions about her appointment. 

Tolashe is already accused of giving Kgatla preferential treatment after City Press reported in June that Kgatla was being shielded from charges of gross misconduct in her department.

Kgatla previously worked for the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, also under Tolashe, where he was charged with three counts of gross misconduct when it was discovered that in addition to his job in Tolashe’s office he was also working for another government business entity, the Northwest Transport Investments Trading.

Kgatla allegedly drew salaries from both workplaces without disclosing it, a contravention of the Public Service Act.

Despite the fact that a full documentary case against Kgatla was handed on to the Department of Social Development, according to City Press, the department has failed to take any action against him.

Mabiletja replaced Zanele Simmons as Tolashe’s chief of staff, with Simmons moved to the National Development Agency. 

Further reporting from City Press alleged that Simmons’ move, together with the reshuffling of a number of other key executives within the department, was motivated by her objection to the shielding of Kgatla - a charge the department has denied.

Tolashe is already under fire for spending.

This latest news comes amid a flurry of negative publicity for Tolashe, whose department was revealed by the Sunday Times in late August to have spent just over R3 million on a trip to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March this year, with delegates staying at one of Manhattan’s most expensive hotels.

Department spokesperson Lumka Oliphant was suspended immediately after the Sunday Times report, with Oliphant claiming this was retribution for being accused of leaking information, while the department maintains Oliphant is under suspicion of mismanagement. DM