The Department of Transport national spokesperson Collen Msibi has previously tried to have his ex-boss Fikile Mbalula, his then deputy Sindisiwe Chikunga and estrwhile Director-General Alec Moemi removed.
This is the bombshell contained in a complaint before the office of public protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka.
The complaint, which we have seen, was lodged by the director at the department, Esethu Hasane, who wants Gcaleka to investigate Msibi.
Smear campaigns
Hasane alleges that he is not the first victim of Msibi’s smear campaigns after the latter apparently wrote a letter to Minister Barbara Creecy calling for Hasane’s head.
In Hasane’s submission, Msibi emerges as a ringleader of a syndicate hellbent on sustaining itself through gossip-mongering and purging its opponents.
The jaw-dropping complaint to Gcaleka by Hasane paints Msibi as a person who connives against his colleagues and stops at nothing in his attempt to see their heads on the chopping block.
Hasane says he himself has been a victim after Msibi penned a letter of complaint. He claimed Hasane had brought the department into disrepute by participating in a march of ANC cadres who were not happy with the decision to go into the GNU with the DA.
“The fraudulent letter, which they used as grounds to investigate me, was sent by Mr. Msibi on the 10th of September to himself, the Minister of Transport, the Director-General, and the labour union on. It was composed at a Sunnyside Internet Café using a Department of Transport computer and his official @dot Microsoft account,” Hasane wrote to Gcaleka.
Fikile Mbalula allegedly targeted
“The department has an established culture where employees write anonymous letters against each other in attempts to have individuals removed from their positions. Previous letters written, about former Minister Fikile Mbalula, then former Deputy Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, and former Director-General Mr. Alec Moemi, have been linked to Mr. Msibi and his associates.
“These letters contained politically charged statements against the named individuals (Mbalula, Chikunga and Moemi), calling upon the President to take action against them. However, no formal investigation has ever been conducted to conclusively establish Mr. Msibi’s involvement.”
Hasane says preliminary investigation has revealed that Msibi, working with a manager at HR as well as chief of staff, were in cahoots to get rid of him and another colleague.
Apparently, the two vacancies that would occur if they got the chop, one was intended for a former colleague of the chief of staff from a different department.
Emotional and psychological harm
Hasane tells Gcaleka of how, in the past nine months of his persecution, he has suffered irreparable emotional and psychological harm.
He submits that at the centre of his trauma was the realisation of that if Msibi and his cronies had succeeded in getting rid of him, his family would be plunged into poverty as he is the sole breadwinner.
As things stand, he has effectively been subjected to depression, and was at some point hospitalised for same as the department continues to kick the can down the road without finality on his complaint against Msibi.
“Had this malicious scheme succeeded, all my professional efforts and achievements would have been in vain. The reputational damage would have permanently tarnished my record and effectively barred me from future employment within the government,” Hasane writes to Gcaleka.
Anxiety and depression
“The psychological trauma caused by this experience led me to seek mental health support for the first time in my life, ultimately resulting in hospitalisation for a week. I am currently on medication for anxiety and depression following this distressing period.
“The actions of Mr. Msibi and Ms. Phindile Gcina are not trivial. They are profoundly damaging, unethical, and constitute a direct threat to my health and well-being. Their conduct warrants full legal accountability and scrutiny.”
Hasane told Gcaleka that she was his last hope at getting justice and getting his peaceful professional life back. The complaint is supplemented with piles of annexures as evidence to back up his complaint.
