THE recently-appointed director-general in the Ministry of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities and her personal assistant have been staying at a Pretoria hotel for seven months
Their bill - at R39,000 each a month - is about R570,000.
Nonhlanhla Mkhize, who was seconded from the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office to the ministry in April, was appointed director-general on November 1.
She has been accommodated at the Southern Sun Pretoria at a monthly cost of R39,000 for accommodation and breakfast only.
Her personal assistant, Philile Shango, who is also from KwaZulu-Natal, stays at the posh hotel for the same amount. The two are expected to check out at the end of this month.
November marked the end of Mkhize's secondment because she was appointed director-general less than a week before her former boss, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, was fired in a Cabinet reshuffle. The two are said to be very close.
Mkhize told Sowetan yesterday that nobody had discussed accommodation issues with her. "I was seconded and I was provided with accommodation and transport in line with my secondment.
"I was not told about the guidelines of the Public Service Act. No-one discussed my accommodation and transport with me because they came as a package.
"All I was told was that I would be staying in that hotel. I did not know how much it cost, the bills were sent to the department," she said.
Mkhize denied using hotel telephones and room service which had pushed the hotel bills high. "I did not make use of any of the extras at the hotel. I ate in the dining room.
"I only used the drivers when going to urgent meetings in areas I did not know or where there was no parking," she said.
However, ministry spokesperson Sibani Mngadi confirmed that both the hotel stay and the use of transport and drivers could be regarded as "irregular" because Mkhize was not permanent at the time.
Mngadi said: "The expectation in terms of secondment is that an employee will return to the original position, which is the KZN provincial government. The employer receiving a seconded employee is required to provide accommodation where this is necessary."
He also said it was only after her permanent appointment as director-general from November 1 that she was to be "allowed two months within which she should find permanent accommodation. Therefore, by the end of December, Dr Mkhize should have her own accommodation arrangements".
Mkhize said she checked out yesterday morning. "We are renting a house in Waterkloof," she said.
DG's R570,000 hotel bill
THE recently-appointed director-general in the Ministry of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities and her personal assistant have been staying at a Pretoria hotel for seven months
Their bill - at R39,000 each a month - is about R570,000.
Nonhlanhla Mkhize, who was seconded from the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office to the ministry in April, was appointed director-general on November 1.
She has been accommodated at the Southern Sun Pretoria at a monthly cost of R39,000 for accommodation and breakfast only.
Her personal assistant, Philile Shango, who is also from KwaZulu-Natal, stays at the posh hotel for the same amount. The two are expected to check out at the end of this month.
November marked the end of Mkhize's secondment because she was appointed director-general less than a week before her former boss, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, was fired in a Cabinet reshuffle. The two are said to be very close.
Mkhize told Sowetan yesterday that nobody had discussed accommodation issues with her. "I was seconded and I was provided with accommodation and transport in line with my secondment.
"I was not told about the guidelines of the Public Service Act. No-one discussed my accommodation and transport with me because they came as a package.
"All I was told was that I would be staying in that hotel. I did not know how much it cost, the bills were sent to the department," she said.
Mkhize denied using hotel telephones and room service which had pushed the hotel bills high. "I did not make use of any of the extras at the hotel. I ate in the dining room.
"I only used the drivers when going to urgent meetings in areas I did not know or where there was no parking," she said.
However, ministry spokesperson Sibani Mngadi confirmed that both the hotel stay and the use of transport and drivers could be regarded as "irregular" because Mkhize was not permanent at the time.
Mngadi said: "The expectation in terms of secondment is that an employee will return to the original position, which is the KZN provincial government. The employer receiving a seconded employee is required to provide accommodation where this is necessary."
He also said it was only after her permanent appointment as director-general from November 1 that she was to be "allowed two months within which she should find permanent accommodation. Therefore, by the end of December, Dr Mkhize should have her own accommodation arrangements".
Mkhize said she checked out yesterday morning. "We are renting a house in Waterkloof," she said.
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