The IFP Portfolio Committee on Education calls on the KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele to put an end to the havoc the special leave imposed on Professor Charles Dlamini has created in the Provincial Department of Education.

Professor Dlamini, the CEO at Education, was put on special leave by the Premier on 6 October 2004 for allegedly having "some differences" with his boss, Education MEC Ina Cronje.

Later on, the Education MEC, in conjunction with the Premier's office, hinted at vague "concerns" about Professor Dlamini's handling of his department. The grounds for the special leave were accordingly re-interpreted to facilitate an investigation into these concerns without, presumably Professor Dlamini's, interference.

Meanwhile, Professor Dlamini remains just one of the victims of Ndebele's wide-ranging purge of top KwaZulu-Natal officials. Others include Advocate Mbuzeni Mathenjwa, the former Head of Department of Safety and Security; Edmund Hadebe, the suspended Head of Public Works; and Dr Eric Gumbi, the former Head of the Royal Household.

It was in the case of Dr Gumbi, that the Labour Court recently ruled that putting top public officials on special leave was outside the Premier's power. "The IFP today insists that the judicial precedent set in Dr Gumbi's case is likewise followed in the case of Professor Dlamini," said Alfred Mpontshane, MP, who serves on the IFP Portfolio Committee on Education.

Mpontshane also said:

"The IFP calls upon Premier Ndebele to uphold the law because the IFP stands for the rule of law. Premier Ndebele, on the contrary, won't let the law stand in his way of purging top public officials who are perceived to be close to the IFP."