The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (NUPSAW) in the Western Cape will be demonstrating on Friday at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment in Cape Town, calling for the immediate dismissal of a senior government official who was unlawfully appointed.

After NUPSAW discovered that the Chief Director for Monitoring, Control and Surveillance in the Department – Advocate Nkosinathi Dana – had been appointed without following due process, we filed a court application seeking to review and set aside that decision.

From the onset, there was clear evidence of collusion between Dana and those who clearly had an interest in his appointment.

The Western Cape High Court recently handed down the judgment, confirming our suspicions and ultimately ruling in our favour.

The court granted our application, declaring Dana’s appointment as irregular and unlawful.

It is on the basis of that court judgment that we are calling for the director-general in that Department to remove Dana with immediate effect.

NUPSAW, an affiliate of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), will embark on a peaceful demonstration outside the Department’s offices at FORETRUST BUILDING IN FORESHORE on Friday, 29 October 2021.

We will be demanding the Director-General of DFFE, pursuant to the High Court Judgment handed down on Tuesday, 26 October 2021, to do what is right and take action against Advocate Dana.

The said unlawful and irregular appointment, which was a direct result of collusion and manipulation of section 40 of NEMA, was effective from 01 August 2019 and terminated on 31 July 2021. The DG then extended the contract for another year.

NUPSAW has written to the D.G. and the Department enquiring about the process followed in appointment several officials, including Adv. Dana. The DG and the Department failed to provide NUPSAW with the reasons that necessitated these section 40 appointments.

It is alarming that Advocate Dana was not an employee of the Department when he made the submission to be appointed as Acting Chief Director: MCS. It is also shocking that the recommendation presented to the D.G. for approval of the appointment of Adv. Nkosinathi Dana was a copy and paste of his initial submission. This undoubtedly proves that the necessity to appoint Dana through section 40 of NEMA never existed and still does not exist.

NUPSAW calls upon the D.G. and the Department to immediately terminate everyone who was involved in the act of collusion. THEREFORE, the D.G. of DFFE is called upon further to utilise the public purse with care and not use the taxpayer’s money recklessly on appealing this judgment.

All NUPSAW members, including any other interested parties that are against this apparent collusion, manipulation, abuse of power, Departmental capture by Adv. Nkosinathi Dana is urged to join the Picket taking place this Friday. Members of the media are invited to join us from 09:00