The Office of the Premier (OTP) of the Eastern Cape, Oscar Mabuyane has reached a settlement agreement with former Head of the Provincial Department of Education, Dr Naledi Mbude.
According to a statement issued by the provincial government spokesperson, Khuselwa Rantjie, the settlement was achieved following prolonged discussions between the two parties.
“Mabuyane withdrew all the charges that were levelled against Mbude and she has since resigned from her position with effect from May 3, bringing an end to the employment relationship between the two parties,” said Rantjie.
She added that while the OTP views this as a matter of public interest, the two parties have agreed that in the interest of promoting conducive employer and employee relations, details of this settlement agreement will not be discussed in the public domain.
Her suspension allegedly followed several issues emanating from the work of the department, including the delays in the delivery of stationery to schools, delays in processing of payments for educator assistants over the 2021 festive season and the under expenditure of infrastructure conditional grant leading to the return of R205 million to treasury.
She was informed about her precautionary suspension with full pay on April 5.
Rantjie added that Dr Soyisile Nuku, who was appointed as the Acting Head of Department (HOD) for Education since April, will continue to lead the department and the OTP will immediately engage in process to recruit a new HOD.
