… only to take up a position as a member of the advisory committee on the stabilisation of the water sector.
Cape Town – Former intelligence chief Mo Shaik had formally resigned his appointment as a special advisor to human settlements, water and sanitation minister Lindiwe Sisulu to become a member of the advisory committee on the stabilisation of the water sector, the department said on Thursday.
It stressed that Shaik had himself requested to work with the committee instead, as he felt that he was better suited to the position because of his past experience in investment and infrastructure.
The statement came in response to the Democratic Alliance (DA) issuing a statement that Shaik had quit as a ministerial advisor because the DA had pointed out that he lacked the qualifications to serve as a special advisor on water services.
The DA added that this was a victory over the ruling party’s policy of cadre deployment.
In its statement, the water department said: “Mo Shaik continues to be a member of the Advisory Committee of the Stabilisation and Efficient Functioning of the Water Sector, from which he has not resigned.
“Mr Shaik was requested as a member to assist the director-general through this committee to particularly focus on investment and funding for water infrastructure. This was on the back of Mr Shaik’s experience at the Development Bank of Southern Africa.”
A spokesman for the department said that Shaik had never fully taken up the position of ministerial advisor to which he was named by Sisulu last month.
However, because the posts were assigned with the concurrence of the minister of public service and administration, a formal resignation had still been in order.
Shaik is the former head of the foreign intelligence branch of the State Security Agency.
He was not immediately available for comment.
African News Agency
