After weeks of sustained pressure and with the axe hanging over her head, embattled Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe has moved to charge director general (DG) Peter Netshipale, just weeks after another top official, Lumka Oliphant, was put on ice.
The minister has also recently suspended her 22-year-old chief of staff, Lesedi Matiletja, amid pressure to account for her actions and as she faces accusations of defying cabinet or failing to implement its decision on Netshipale’s appointment.
Citing “serious concerns arising from his conduct in the performance of his duties” in charging the DG, Tolashe has sought to strengthen her hand as pressure mounts on her to explain why she appointed Netshipale, who allegedly failed psychometric tests, on a five-year contract without verifying that he was due for retirement in 2026.
“Having applied her mind and considered all relevant facts, the minister has taken a decision — in the best interests of the department — to institute formal processes in line with the Public Service Act and the Senior Management Service (SMS) Handbook,” the social development department said in a statement.
Netshipale has not been suspended, but must give reasons why he should not be suspended pending a disciplinary hearing.
This is the latest in a series of staff disputes at the department, following the suspension of chief communications officer Oliphant, the “precautionary suspension” of Matiletja, and an ongoing investigation into the minister’s special adviser, Ngwako Kgatla.
In a letter to Netshipale, the minister said that, given his age, he was required to retire in 2026 and would face disciplinary charges for signing a five-year contract.
“Unbeknownst to me, you decided to sign a contract of five years, which has since been varied for a period of a year,” the letter reads. “You further failed to scrutinise the appointments in the office of the minister, thus bringing the office of the minister into disrepute. Self-evidently, your decision has inflicted prejudice to the administration, and efficiency to the office of the minister.”
Netshipale faces charges of dereliction of duty and misrepresentation. He is also accused of gross dishonesty for bringing the department into disrepute by drawing negative media attention.
However, Tolashe, who is also president of the ANC Women’s League, previously defended Netshipale’s hiring to parliament and said his appointment was within prevailing prescripts within public service.
During a question-and-answer session at the portfolio committee on social development in July, DA MP Alexandra Abrahams asked why Tolashe had hired Netshipale on a five-year contract when he was a year away from the retirement age of 65.
The minister replied: “In terms of Section 8(3) of the Public Service Act, employees employed on contract are not regarded as permanent employees; therefore, the retirement age does not apply to them.”
Tolashe added that the Public Service Act “also provides that an HOD is deemed to be retired at the end of a contract period. It is therefore possible that a person may be appointed as an HOD beyond retirement age”.
In contrast, March’s cabinet minutes show that Netshipale’s appointment was approved “for a contract of one year” with a remuneration package of R2 259 984 and a 10% non-pensionable HOD allowance.
Shortly after the cabinet meeting, Tolashe announced Netshipale as director general for a five-year term in a filling of vacancy statement.
But Tolashe has not provided answers on why she defied cabinet or allegedly failed to implement its decision, setting the stage for what could be a piling up of her woes. The questions include whether she attended the cabinet meeting on 26 March, when the DG’s appointment was discussed, and, if so, why she then signed a five-year contract with him.
A source in her department told the Mail & Guardian this week that Netshipale had failed psychometric tests before being appointed, and that it was unfathomable that the minister was not aware of this, or that the DG was due to retire next year.
The source added that the minister was warned by senior officials to rather convene a panel to look into his appointment before recommending him to cabinet, as he had “dismally” failed his psychometric tests.
“Did the minister not sign the DG’s contract and performance agreement? The DG didn’t sign the contract by himself, she signed it too. What was she signing?
“Her head is on the block now, so she is blaming the DG, who didn’t sit in the cabinet meeting. She sat in that cabinet meeting when his appointment was discussed,” said the source, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation.
“She was supposed to rectify the issue (of his contract period) then. But even then, she had another opportunity to correct this when the DA asked questions in parliament,” said the source.
Netshipale previously justified Tolashe’s controversial R3-million trip to New York during a parliamentary briefing. Tolashe and her staff attended the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March 2025.
Netshipale said the R3-million expenditure was “modest” and covered travel and accommodation for the minister and her staff. It is believed that Oliphant was the whistleblower who leaked details of the trip to the media, including her former colleagues at City Press.
Oliphant was suspended for allegedly leaking information after City Press and the Sunday Times published exposés about the costly NYC trip and her suspension.
She has alleged intimidation by Tolashe’s parliamentary aide, Luvuyo Shasha, who phoned her and said she must stop her “tantrums”, warning that she “will get hurt” and that he would “shoot her with an AK-47”. Oliphant has opened a case at the Sandton police station.
Tolashe has called Oliphant’s allegations “false and misleading” and stated she was suspended due to “serious irregularities” found by the Auditor-General on several contracts within the department.
Further charges against Netshipale include failure “to scrutinise the appointments in the office of the minister thus bringing the office of the minister in disrepute.”
This last charge follows recent suspensions within the department over controversial appointments.
Matiletja, the minister’s 22-year-old chief of staff, was placed on precautionary leave. Tolashe claimed that her former chief of staff falsified Matiletja’s CV.
Matiletja is the niece of the minister’s special adviser, Kgatla, and reportedly has only one year of work experience and three years of volunteer work at the deputy minister’s office in the presidency for women, youth and persons with disabilities.
Kgatla has also garnered negative media attention for allegedly having drawn two government salaries without disclosure — one from North West Transport Investment Trading and another from the department of social development.
He has denied the claims — stating he resigned from the North West agency and that the allegations are part of a fight back campaign against Tolashe’s reform efforts in the department. The department has said the investigation into Kgatla is still ongoing.
Asked if Tolashe had defied cabinet and if there were consequences for ministers who don’t toe the line, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshaveni, who is also cabinet secretary, said she was unaware of the issues and referred questions back to social development.
“I am not responsible for career incidences of DGs. The relevant person will be the responsible minister, in this case, social development. Only Minister Tolashe can respond to those questions,” Ntshavheni told the Mail and Guardian.
The department’s spokesperson Sandy Godlwana highlighted that its statement afforded Netshipale an opportunity to make written submissions by 20 October.
“DG is not suspected, he just needs to respond to questions from the minister,” Godlwana said.
Netshipale had not responded by the time of publication.
*This story has been updated with comments from the department spokesperson.
Minister Sisisi Tolashe suspended director general Peter Netshipale amid internal scandals, contract disputes and whistleblower allegations at the department of social development
