The Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture will write a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, requesting forensic investigation to be conducted on the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB). The Chairperson of the Committee, Ms Thandile Sunduza, revealed this during a meeting between the Committee, PanSALB and the Department of Arts and Culture in Parliament today.
Today’s meeting was scheduled to obtain a report from the Minister of Arts and Culture on the recommendations that were made by the Committee to the Minister on 31 August 2011. The Minister could not attend the meeting and tendered an apology to the Committee.
After deliberations and discussions between the Committee and the PanSALB Board, Executive Management and employees, the Committee came to the conclusion that PanSALB is in crisis and serious intervention is required.
The Committee noted the following disturbing factors:
- The cause of most grievances and challenges seem to be personal.
- The Board of PanSALB was not aware of most of the challenges facing the organisation.
- Some Board members admitted to being kept in the Director-General’s kitchen during the last meeting that was held between the Committee and the PanSALB Board.
- PanSALB had reported facing a serious deficit of R121 million to the Committee in June 2011.
The Committee will therefore request the Speaker of Parliament to allow a forensic investigation to be conducted on the financial and governance systems of PanSALB. The Committee has further noted that PanSALB seems to have focused more on litigation matters to the neglect of its core mandate as stipulated in Section 6 (5) (a) and (b) of the Constitution.
The Committee further notes and welcomes the process started by the Department of Arts and Culture to assist PanSALB with its financial and governance challenges but still believes that a forensic investigation onto PanSALB would greatly assist in finding the cause of the crisis at PanSALB.
The Committee has requested the Board and the management of PanSALB to open channels of communication within the organisation and to ensure harmony between the staff. The Board has been requested to report back to the Portfolio Committee after a month.
Enquiries:
Faith Kwaza
Tel: 021 403 8062
Cell: 072 122 0371
E-mail: fkwaza@parliament.gov.za
