The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau of dragging his feet on a critical investigation into maladministration at the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS).

DA spokesperson on Trade, Industry and Competition, Toby Chance, said Tau appointed TSU International (a provider of private security and intelligence services) in February to investigate allegations of maladministration. The TSU report was reportedly due at the end of June this year but is yet to be released. When the DA asked the Minister why the report had not been released, Tau replied that the investigation is ongoing and gave no date for its conclusion, citing “unforeseen challenges encountered by the investigators.”

“It is unacceptable that six months have elapsed since Minister Tau commissioned the investigation, and still we have no date for its finalisation,” Chance said. He added that “information from sources inside the SABS suggests the investigators received a frosty reception from individuals potentially implicated in wrongdoing by whistleblowers.”

“However, this should not be used as an excuse when many other employees have been eager to speak to the investigators to provide them with relevant information. This has enabled TSU to build up a comprehensive picture of what has been happening at the SABS to destabilise it and compromise its operations,” Chance said.

Chance warned the inquiry: “must not be stalled by political interference...the DA will ensure that its report [the TSU report] is tabled before Parliament during its next term, starting in October.”

He also raised concerns about the performance culture under the new acting CEO of the SABS: “Reports have emerged that the new acting CEO, Mr Blake Mosely-Lefatola, has been putting pressure on departments to achieve their targets, even if this means they have to make short cuts to standard operating procedures...If these reports are correct, it is very concerning that the guardian of South Africa’s quality system is compromising its own quality standards to dress up its performance reporting to satisfy its departmental and political masters.”

Another concern of Chance’s is the reported loss of clients: “I have received information that there are now no longer any companies/brands in one industry sector that use the SABS for testing purposes...the deterioration of the SABS capabilities and capacity forced them to test in laboratories abroad and the well-respected SABS Mark has been discarded.”