Johannesburg- The future of Israel Silinda, the chief director for Mpumalanga department of agriculture, rural development and land reform, is hanging by a thread after he was found guilty of misconduct.
Silinda was identified as one of senior employees in the department who concocted and distributed a letter accusing premier Refilwe-Mtsweni-Tsipane, the head of department Mfana Chunda and other senior provincial government officials of corruption.
Though he has been found guilty, Silinda has not yet been suspended or dismissed. “Mr Silinda has been found guilty on three counts of misconduct.
The department has submitted aggravating factors to the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing on Monday, February 7 2022, wherein the chairperson is asked to consider a sanction of dismissal from the public service,” said Zanele Shabangu, the department’s spokesperson.
“It is very clear that the actions of Mr Silinda were premeditated, deliberate, intentional and well-calculated.
“He defamed the premier and the head of department in their official and private capacities. The department, in general, and the premier have been falsely accused in the media by Mr Silinda’s dissemination of the malicious letter,” added Shabangu, noting that Silinda has put the name of the department and the provincial administration into disrepute.
According to her, Silinda has undermined the Labour Relations Act, the Public Service Act (c), the code of conduct, and the disciplinary code and procedure. She continued: “Mr Silinda pleaded not guilty knowing very well that he was liable for the offence.
“He wasted time and the resources by not cooperating and denying the allegations. He demonstrated insolence and showed a lack of responsibility for someone in his position as a chief director.
“He lied under oath and contradicted himself. His conduct demonstrated that he lacks credibility.”
She added that the nature of the offence was so grave that it made his continued employment intolerable, stating that the trust relationship has been broken beyond repair.
“It is therefore submitted that dismissal from public service is an appropriate sanction.” Asked if there were other employees expected to be fired, Shabangu said the investigation is ongoing and anyone found liable will be disciplined accordingly. She also mentioned that all the officials of the department were being investigated.
“The department will share a copy of the sanction as soon as it is received from the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing. Currently, the department has the findings. We will know soon what disciplinary action will be taken against Silinda.”
If fired, Silinda will be the second senior employee in the department to be shown the door for being part of a group accused of writing and circulating the document titled “Agriclooting”.
A few weeks ago, the department’s chief financial officer, Mapholoba Letswalo, was fired for the same accusations.
Letswalo is in the process of challenging his dismissal. The document in question accused Chunda and other senior officials in the province of plundering over R90-million in the Greening Badplaas Project.
The department said it investigated the allegations mentioned in the document and found that they were not true.
Meanwhile, Sunday World saw the documents detailing that the head of department and the premier opened cases of defamation against Silinda and Lestwalo.
Previously, Letswalo told Sunday World that his dismissal was politically motivated but would not give more details on the grounds that the matter was being addressed by his lawyers who refused to comment.
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