Officials from the Department of Arts and Culture who are implicated in irregularly funding music icon Miriam Makeba’s family with over R3-million in legal fees to remove her estate trustees have received a slap on the wrist for their involvement.
The department allocated R3-million to Makeba’s grandchildren Nelson Lumumba and Zenzile Lee between 2009 and 2018 in a private litigation case to remove copyright lawyer Graeme Gilfillan and the icon’s former manager Dumisani Motha as trustees overseeing her affairs.
The move contravened the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act, Treasury regulations, and the Culture Promotion Act according to a report by suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane in February 2022.
On Tuesday, the public protector’s office told the portfolio committee on sports, arts and culture that the department indicated that no action was taken against the director-general (DG) and chief financial officer (CFO).
This, it said, because they were no longer employees of the department.
“Some of the officials who were implicated and against whom recommendations where made are no longer with the department, including the former DG, and that the CFO has moved to another department,” said the office of the public protector.
The office of the public protector was updating the portfolio committee on the status of remedial action as given in her final report following a complaint of mismanagement of funds and fruitless expenditure in the department.
The office also told parliament that the department has in writing informed the National Treasury and the auditor-general of irregular expenditure relating to money spent on Makeba’s grandchildren.
In addition, the department has also made an undertaking to involve National Treasury in writing of any future funding requests and proposals from third parties.
“The next remedial action was that the director-general must ensure that prior to approving requests for funding from third parties … such requests are subjected to a comprehensive legal vetting by the department’s legal service section.”
The department became a subject of an investigation by the public protector in 2018 after Gilfillan lodged a complaint alleging that the department had entered into agreements with various private law firms in the matter involving the late world acclaimed musician.
At the time, the department’s DG, Themba Wakashe, attended a meeting where he was briefed about complaints by Lee’s family against the two trustees in September 2009.
After objections from other department officials at the time, the department went ahead and made payments to Makeba’s grandchildren.
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