President takes measure to resolve minister and DG dispute

President Jacob Zuma appointed Public Service and Administration Minister, Richard Baloyi to resolve the stand-off between Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda and the Director-General (DG) of the Department of Communication, Mamodupi Mohlala that he fired. Baloyi's Spokesman, Dumisani Nkwamba could not state when Baloyi would be meeting Nyanda and Mohlala, or whether there was a time frame for sorting out the dispute.

Mohlala has taken a legal route over her dismissal. She had argued that Nyanda did not have the power to fire her and that this authority lay with the cabinet and President Jacob Zuma.

Upon receiving a letter from Mohlala, Zuma asked Baloyi to step in.

Nkwamba also refused to be drawn on whether Baloyi would consider the axed DG’s proposal that she be redeployed to another department if she could not return to her post at the Department of Communications.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Communications Committee, Ismail Vadi, said Nyanda will not be ordered to explain his decision.

"We should allow the court to act on the matter. At this stage it might not be useful to call the minister. Once you have taken the legal route, it is difficult for Parliament to intervene," said Vadi.

Mohlala’s contract was terminated on 23 July 2010. The Communications Department said that trust between her and the minister had broken down. Mohlala had been offered a R1.6 million payout which she refused. //End//

Reagan Malumo
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht St
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek
Namibia
Phone: +264 61 232 975
Fax: +264 61 248 016
Mobile: +264 81 311 2626

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