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Department of Land reform announces DG has in fact resigned after early denials
Incident is a perfect example of ANC's tendency towards secrecy denial instead of upfront honesty
DA to ask Minister to release findings of Auditor General's report and Ffor clarity on the Green Paper





If anyone is looking for yet more evidence as to why the Protection of Information Bill is profoundly problematic, they have just been handed it on a silver platter by the Department of Land Reform. Last week I released a statement revealing that the Director General of Land Reform had resigned. It was met by the most violent and hysterical response, accusing me of hiding behind anonymous informants and peddling lies. Guess what? He has resigned (in ANC-speak, his contract is to be "re-determined"?). Whenever the ANC administration is compromised, whenever it is revealed to have unjustly chosen secrecy over transparency, its natural inclination is to vilify and attack. It appears incapable of being upfront and honest with the people it is required to represent.

Proof that the Director General, Mr Thozi Gwanya, has indeed resigned is contained in a statement released by the Department yesterday. It states:

‘The Minister for Rural Development and Land Reform, Mr Gugile Nkwinti and the Department's Director-General, Mr Thozi Gwanya, have agreed to re-determine the Director-General's contract. Mr Gwanya's contract with the Department will expire on 31st July 2010.'

Compare this to the Department's response to my initial statement:

‘Hiding from faceless, anonymous informants, Steyn alleges that this alleged resignation by the Director-General has being confirmed by a "senior bureaucrat" and a "senior policy official" in the department as well as an ANC legislator. If the Director-General had tendered his resignation, apparently a month ago, common sense dictates that he should at least be the first to know about his own resignation as he would have written it himself!

So, Mr. Gwanya has indeed resigned. The Department can play rhetorical games about what word they feel best describes the fact that he won't be working there anymore, but the point is a simple one: one of the most senior officials in that department is gone, in circumstances that are deeply problematic, and the Department failed to take the portfolio committee or the South African public into its confidence.

When I released my initial statement, I said the following:

[An explanation for the DG's resignation] is especially urgent given the recent upheavals at this particular department. As information revealed by the DA has shown, the department is responsible for a massive backlog in payments to post-settlement land-claimants to the tune of over R3,4 billion. Furthermore, the department owes another R580-million in payments to land sellers and has R497 million in lawsuits pending against it. These all point to major breakdowns in the department, and possibly serious irregularities; this was, indeed, the reason why I had called on the Auditor General to investigate the department in the first place.

The department now needs to stop trying to hide the facts from the public and provide an explanation.

I will be writing to the Minister to please enlighten us and clarify the bizarre sequences of communication from his department. Furthermore, I will ask for further details on the Auditor General's report and also clarity on the Green Paper.