By The Head of Department (HOD) for the Free State Department of Social Development Adv Tumelo Phahlo has been hit by numerous allegations of corruption in the past months; the department has since denied any of these allegations.
Media reports emerged over the weekend that Phahlo is being investigated by the HAWKS for alleged R2.3 million that went missing under his watch.
The Spokesperson for the department, Mr Thembile Nqabeni has refuted the allegations and dismissed them as those seeking to tarnish and undermine the position of the HOD. He said Phahlo has been under continuous attack in the past three to six months.
In contrast to the media reports, Nqabeni says the HOD is a man who runs a clean and ethical institution.
“Since his acting appointment as the HOD of the Department, he improved the Audit outcomes from qualified to unqualified Audit opinion. He is a man with respect for his employees, staff, and all stakeholders of the department.
Therefore, as the Department we categorize these allegations levelled against him as groundless, unfounded, malicious, and aimed at tarnishing his reputation. As the Department we implore individual or media people who continuously write about these allegations, to approach the law enforcement agencies and lay charges if they have evidence to support them,” dared Thembile Nqabeni.
“As the department we are not aware of any investigation levelled against our Head of the Department, so communities, stakeholders and officials of the department should not panic. Adv TJ Phahlo is committed to clean governance, ethical, moral, honourable, incorruptible, and principled department. In Addition, he has been serving without fear or favour in all departments and has remained professional in advocating his duties.
We find this act as a form of baseless reporting. Adv TJ Phahlo is an experienced public servant who has been serving the people of the Free State with integrity and dignity, as per our departmental records, we do not know of any investigation levelled against him,” he continued.
