Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies
Photo by: Creamer Media
Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies has appointed three senior Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) officials as co-administrators of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), which he placed under administration on June 28 after dissolving the SABS board.
The co-administrators had been granted all the powers and duties necessary for the functioning of the standard-setting body and would remain in place for from July 2, 2018, to January 30, 2019.
They had also been charged with producing a diagnostic report and turnaround action plan for the trouble institution.
Davies identified the administrators as being: DTI group COO Jodi Scholtz; industrial development division deputy director-general Garth Strachan; and technical infrastructure institutions chief director Dr Tshenge Demana.
Late last month, Davies dissolved the SABS board with immediate effect, owing to its failure to exercise its fiduciary duties in terms of the Standards Act and the Public Finance Management Act.
The Minister said he had acted having received numerous complaints regarding a lack of service delivery by SABS and having considered “unpersuasive” written and oral representations from board members.
He also highlighted SABS's alleged complicity in the approval of coal for Eskom from the Gupta-family-linked mining company, Tegeta.
The SABS had failed to perform in line with its mandate, Davies said in a statement.
He added that he had lost confidence in the board’s ability to manage the entity effectively.