Solly Malatsi Removes Two USAASA Board Members for Governance Violations

The Auditor General has flagged the board fees earned by Kula-Rantho and Mabusela as irregular expenditure, totaling R1,651,960.89.

In an effort to restore stability and uphold good governance at the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA), Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi has removed two board members, Daphne Kula-Rantho and Boitumelo Mabusela, from their positions.

The decision was announced on Monday, with the Minister stating that the two individuals, who are also civil servants, failed to obtain the necessary approval to conduct additional remunerative work outside their official roles, as required by law. Despite multiple opportunities to provide evidence of such approval, they were unable to do so.

The removal is in accordance with Clause 13 of the Governance Agreement and Section 83 of the Public Finance Management Act, which empowers the Minister to dismiss board members for financial misconduct. The Auditor General has flagged the board fees earned by Kula-Rantho and Mabusela as irregular expenditure, totaling R1,651,960.89. Minister Malatsi has instructed the Department of Communications and Digital Technology (DCDT) to recover these funds.

Additionally, the Minister has ordered an independent investigation into allegations of abuse of state resources against another board member, Simphiwe Thobela, and has initiated the process to replace the removed board members to ensure stability and strengthen governance at USAASA.