Godongwana appoints acting CEO for embattled GPAA amid forensic investigation

FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana has appointed Job Stadi Mngomezulu as acting CEO of the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA) after seconding him from the National Treasury.

- SIPHELELE DLUDLA

This decision comes in the wake of Godongwana placing Kedibone Madiehe on precautionary suspension with full pay, effective immediately, as her tenure has recently come under sharp scrutiny over allegations of procurement irregularities.

Moreover, Godongwana announced that the Office of the Accountant General (OAG) unit has commenced a detailed forensic investigation into all allegations of financial misconduct at the agency.

The GPAA is a government component which reports to the Minister of Finance and administers the pension affairs of approximately 1.7 million government employees and pensioners, as well as the affairs of their spouses and dependants.

The agency has been rocked by allegations of serious financial mismanagement of pension funds amounting to more than R500 million after an audit being prepared for the financial year-end flagged administration issues.

The GPAA is also accused of paying R270m to contractors for refurbishing a building it allegedly has no legal access to, linked to a 10-year office lease agreement estimated at R1 billion.

Other allegations against the agency include squandering at least R148m for the leasing of 11 mobile office buses and paying more than R100m for duplicated ICT projects.