The Office of the Premier in KwaZulu-Natal has been rocked by allegations of gender-based violence after the most senior civil service staff member in that office suddenly quit her post, allegedly after she was threatened by a male staffer.

The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on the Office of the Premier, Mbali Frazer, raised the issue. She has written to Premier Thami Ntuli demanding an explanation regarding the resignation of Director-General Dr Nonhlanhla Mkhize, who resigned suddenly this week.

Frazer said it was alleged that Mkhize quit after allegedly being subjected to verbal abuse and threatening conduct by a senior male staff member in that office. Attempts to contact Dr Mkhize were unsuccessful yesterday. The Premier’s office acknowledged Dr Mkhize’s resignation a few days ago but did not give a reason for her resignation.

“As the first female Director-General of KwaZulu-Natal, she leaves behind a powerful legacy of transformation, collaboration, and excellence in public service. Her ability to foster unity across both the political and administrative spheres will have a lasting impact on the governance of our province,” the statement from the Premier’s office said.

Committee chair Frazer said in a statement, “In my capacity as the chair of the Portfolio Committee on the Office of the Premier, Community Safety and Liaison, I wish to inform the people of KwaZulu-Natal that we cannot ignore the widespread serious allegations levelled against a certain official in the Office of the Premier.

“It is alleged that a youth manager in the Office of the Premier threatened to physically harm the first and longest-serving female Director-General, Dr Nonhlanhla Mkhize. Her crime was refusing to sign off on an appointment letter related to the R100 million Youth Fund,” said the statement.

“As the Portfolio Committee, we believe that it would be an abdication of our responsibility not to allow Premier Thami Ntuli to address these serious allegations on an appropriate platform. In this regard, we have written a letter to the Premier requesting him to appear before the committee. As the committee responsible for oversight over the executive, we believe that such allegations warrant our attention. Threats to physically harm a senior female civil servant should be viewed seriously by all leaders of society across all political affiliations,” said the statement.

The Mercury has seen a letter sent to the Premier and the Portfolio Committee about the incident. The unsigned letter alleges that on May 20, the youth directorate section submitted documents for the award of the Youth Empowerment Fund; however, the letter was returned the same day as there were no supporting documents.

It states that the documents had not been seen by the Director-General because the practice in her office is that staff vet the documents. They vetted the documents that had been sent and found them non-compliant and sent them back. However, the official who sent the document allegedly made accusatory remarks towards the Director-General.

It further alleged that on June 4, there was a heated meeting between the Director-General and the official over the matter where Mkhize was allegedly threatened. The letter further claimed that the police were called, and Mkhize subsequently resigned.

“The DG ended up tendering her resignation, which was not her plan, due to fear for her safety and life. Her resignation was tendered due to the severe nature of threats, as well as the emotional and psychological trauma,” the letter claims.

Riona Gokool, the DA spokesperson on the Premier’s office, said they were aware of the allegations. She said the public deserves full transparency around the reasons for the resignation.

“Should her resignation be due to the allegations of gender-based violence, the DA calls for an independent investigation into the allegations of threats made against Dr Mkhize, as well as a public reaffirmation from the Office of the Premier that gender-based violence and intimidation will never be tolerated,” she said.

The Premier’s office was approached for comment and had not responded by the time of publication.

THE MERCURY

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