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Stofile confirms reasons for withdrawing Mannya's resignation
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Premier's Office

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MEDIA RELEASE
 FOR IMMEDIATE USE
 7 FEBRUARY 2001

PREMIER STOFILE CONFIRMS REASONS FOR WITHDRAWING MANNYAS RESIGNATION

Mr. Modidima Mannya will not return to his position as Superintendent General of the Education Department. This was said by the Eastern 
Cape Premier Rev Makhenkesi Stofile at a press conference held in Bisho to give a final decision regarding his resignation.

Premier Stofile and education MEC Stone Sizani addressed a media conference to outline reasons for closing the matter on Mr. Mannyas 
resignation saying he "will not come back." The Premier outlined amongst others the following reasons for not accepting Mr. Mannyas letter 
withdrawing his resignation:

* A number of cases of mismanagement by Mr. Mannya came to the fore from the Provincial Treasury and the State Law Advisors relating to 
advertisement of 4000 posts for teachers without the budget and the engagement of senior officials without regard for legal processes (to 
mention a few); and that
* Trust between himself and the MEC was eroded, creating an untenable situation for the normal functioning of the administration of the 
department.

He said within three months of Mr. Mannyas tenure at the helm of the Education department, there were a number of cases of mismanagement 
which compromised the provincial administration as indicated by the Provincial Treasury and the State Law Advisers. He said Mr. Mannya 
committed offences for which he was engaged to eliminate perhaps assuming that he was above the law.

The Premier also gave a step-by-step account of the events since Mr. Mannyas reported "death threats". In December 2000, Mr. Mannya 
reported the death threats in a meeting with the Premier and MEC Sizani after which the Premier approached the National Minister of Safety 
and Security as the police are a national competence and advised that the matter be reported to the police. The Premier only received a 
faxed resignation letter on January 23, 2001 from Mr. Mannya which he acknowledged and accepted in terms of the Legislation. After meeting 
MEC Stone Sizani together with representation from SADTU a decision was taken to persuade Mr. Mannya to come back under new terms of a 
contract which would focus on a more limited role of corruption busting and assisting the department to engage senior officials.

"All of us, including the National Department of Education felt that this was a man that you can not easily let go. So we begged him, this 
is not one of the things that I usually do to beg people, so we begged him to come back. We did not abandon him as we are accused of having 
done, we did not chase him away as it is alleged we have done," he said.

He said every effort was taken to persuade him to return. It was during this time that more information emerged on the unauthorised 
expenditure and engagement of senior officials without regard to the legislative procedures to be followed. Investigations were also done 
on his conduct with the previous employers. The Premier acknowledged that had the information been available before engaging Mr. Mannya 
following his good performance in the interviews, he would not have been chosen. He cited the information received from his previous 
employers such as the Office of the Premier in Gauteng and the Department of Public Service and Administration.

The Premier acknowledged Mr. Mannyas efforts to bust corruption but said the cases that came to the public eye during his tenure were 
those already begun by the administration of the department. He said even the suspended officials were never charged in terms of the Act 
and had begun to institute legal actions against the provincial government.

Questions were also raised with the regard to the validity of "death threats" claimed by Mr. Mannya in the light of the fact that the 
Provincial Treasury and the State Law Advisers had begun discussing with Mr. Mannya ways of dealing with the cases of maladministration 
within the three-month span of his leadership.

The Premier said Mannya was assigned to follow-up delays on paying out district municipalities, sort out problems of the management of the 
budget and to eliminate corruption. He praised him for his activism in shaking up the administration but criticised him for 
maladministration.

"In terms of the law of this country which he is supposed to assist the MEC to sustain and uphold the law, unfortunately he was not very 
meticulous in its upholding and application of managerial system. He was not exempted from the laws that he was suppose to implement, the 
Premier said.

Regarding calls made by Cosas and one Sadtu region, the Premier criticised them for being manipulated or acting on insufficient information 
that they could have received had they researched the matter. He said steps would have to be taken against teachers who use leave days to 
sabotage the government

Issued:  Communications Division  Office of the Premier
 Inquiries: Manelisi Wolela - 082-4147768 / 040-6392070

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