Former university finance chief tackles minister

Sunday Tribune 01 July 2017

A year after she was fired as the chief financial officer of the University of Zululand, Josephine Naicker is taking on Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande over investigative reports on alleged corruption at the institution, writes Nokuthula Ntuli for the Sunday Tribune.

According to Naicker’s court application, she lost her job at the University of Zululand following a fallout with the management and council over a report she submitted to the council’s finance committee four months after her appointment. In her report, Naicker alleged that the senior management had manipulated the supply chain procurement processes for personal gain. These included the procuring of nine houses at Mtunzini’s luxury Zini River Estate for senior staff, which reportedly cost the university close to R20 million (US$1.5 million).

Naicker has approached the Durban Labour Court in a bid to get the University of Zululand’s forensic report on the investigations conducted by Ernst and Young, which was concluded in 2012, as well as the report on the findings of the parliamentary portfolio committee following its visit to the institution this February. Last week Nzimande filed notice to oppose Naicker’s application for access to the requested report.
Full report on the IOL site

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