Pilane downgraded after PAC appearance
Just a day after he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Acting Director General of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC)- Tshepo Pilane, has been removed from the top position to give way for his colleague, Festus Matshameko.
Matshameko who has been Head of Investigations and Senior Assistant Director and Pilane were called to the Office of the President last Thursday, July 20th to receive letters of appointment to new positions. Staff were told of the new developments and nothing further, inside sources have revealed.
Prior to his appointment as Acting Director General, Pilane was Senior Assistant Director, heading the Intelligence Division of DCEC and word within the crime busting agency is that he may be returned to the position.
However, DCEC spokesperson Lentswe Motshoganetsi confirmed the new appointments but would not go into any details saying that was all he was aware of.
When appearing before the PAC, Pilane was asked a question as to whether he was comfortable as Acting DG for more than a year to which he responded the matter was beyond him, but added that the situation was not an impediment to his execution of duties.
Question: You can be instructed to investigate someone and you refuse? Are you independent and doing your work without fear or favour?
DO you think you should be acting for this long, are you not worried that you have to impress your superiors so that you can be confirmed?
Answer: I would prefer not to discuss this acting issue because it is beyond me. But I am doing my work freely without fear of being removed. I am doing my work freely because if I try to censor myself it can also be a disadvantage to me. It can be used against me to say I am not performing or adding any value to the organization.
So you can’t censor yourself and fail to do your work.
‘Ke tsaa gore ha go na le kgang, o tshwanetse wa dira tiro ya gago o sa tshabe sepe. Gompieno jaana le ha ke Acter jaana ke phuthologile, ga gona kgang epe e ntshosang. Because once you censor yourself it can also work to your disadvantage,’ he said.
Pilane said the DCEC are currently investigating several cases of land fraud in Mogoditshane and Kgatleng as a result of the Compensation in Kind policy, COVID-19 procurement after direct appointment of some companies, Department of Road Transport and Safety licensing officers, corruption at Water Utilities Corporation, and SPEDU.
He said they have submitted three dockets to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Pilane said that they are tracking several properties in South Africa acquired from proceeds of crime in Botswana, although he was unable to quantify the properties. He said many officers do not keep records of government transactions and suggested that they should be held accountable even in the absence of such records.
