Strange appointment by Justice Ministers office
Publish date: 02 July 2007
Issue Number: 1858
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Corruption
A former chief of staff in Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandlas office allegedly recommended a curriculum specialist with no more than a matric qualification to transform the Justice College though a consortium had already been awarded a tender to do the same job.
According to a City Press report, a departmental internal audit has established that Steenkamps highest qualification is matric (Grade 12). Yet she was supposed to help develop curricula for the training of judges, magistrates and prosecutors. After eight months, Steenkamp, employed on a chief director scale, was paid R697 775, which auditors said amounted to her being paid R650 per hour almost three times what chief directors earn (R264) per hour. The latest revelations come as the Justice Department is in the process of taking disciplinary action against some of the four senior officials who awarded a tender for the transformation of the Justice College to Mbisa Consortium for R40m, which was R23m more expensive than another bidder in 2005. The tender to Mbisa was cancelled after the departments director-general, Menzi Simelane, queried the process used to award the tender. Full City Press report
