W Thusi on Head of Department

Media Release

13 February 2009

MEC Thusi has confidence in Head of Department

The MEC for Arts, Culture and Tourism in KwaZulu-Natal, Mrs Weziwe Thusi, has announced that she still has confidence in the leadership of the Head of Department, Mrs Stella Khumalo. This comes after a series of false malicious allegations that have been planted in certain media houses over the past few days.

Rejecting the allegations as nothing but an effort to tarnish the image of Khumalo and the department, Thusi said:
“I have no reason to doubt the leadership of Mrs Khumalo. She has contributed a lot to the department, which has seen it (the department) change from being one of the most corrupt to one of the best performing ones. Members of the community and stakeholders alike today confidently commend her for the sterling work she has done in implementing a turnaround strategy in the department. However, I am aware of some dissenting voices among some departmental senior officials who want to put the spanner in the works.

“This should not be interpreted as shielding Mrs Khumalo from allegations of wrongdoing. Should there be such, I appeal to anyone to forward them to me so that they can be investigated and the truth be ascertained, than malicious rumours being planted in the media with the soul purpose of throwing a dark cloud over the department and Mrs Khumalo. It must also be noted that we are now on the eve of elections and therefore it is not surprising to find similar allegations by opportunistic people who want to score political points being thrown around. It is also surprising that some newspapers have even quoted the Public Services Commission, confirming that there is a strong evidence against the Head of Department, contrary to the information at my disposal where the commission only enquired about the allegations after the story on the matter was published.”

For more information contact:
Vukani Mbhele
Cell: 083 307 8964

Issued by: Department of arts and culture, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
13 February 2009