The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) is once again facing renewed allegations of mismanagement, leadership instability and governance failures, as contained in whistleblower letters addressed to Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau, seen by Engineering News.

The controversy comes amid the organisation’s continued struggle to recover from a series of allegations detailing mismanagement and corruption, much of which came to light after a crippling cyberattack in late 2024, which disrupted key systems and delayed critical functions.

Thereafter, an independent investigation headed up by private contractor TSU International – the investigative arm of international security firm TSU Protective Services – into the allegations was commissioned by Tau earlier this year. The investigation was initially expected to conclude at the end of May but the deadline was extended.

To date, the findings of the investigation have not been made public.

“The report is yet to be presented to [Tau]. Once [he] receives the final report, he will consider it and action accordingly,” Tau’s spokesperson Kaamil Alli said.

Engineering News has now learned that the Auditor-General (AG) informed Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition last week that the SABS had failed to finalise its financial statements for the 2024/25 financial year.

“We were expecting to receive a presentation of their annual results last week, but the AG told the Portfolio Committee that the SABS has failed to finalise its financial statements for the 2024/25 year, which is a big red flag,” Democratic Alliance Parliamentary member and Trade, Industry and Competition spokesperson Toby Chance revealed in a letter to Engineering News on October 31.

“We were told to expect them in the first quarter of next year, which is unacceptable but a measure of the chaos the cyberattack and lack of disaster recovery plans has caused,” he added.

Chance mentioned that the committee chairperson had committed to ensuring that, when the SABS finally presented its annual report, this would be accompanied by a presentation by Tau on the findings, recommendations and proposed corrective actions of the TSU report.

“The AG has informed the Portfolio Committee that the SABS will submit its financials in January 2026. This has been enabled by the recovery of almost 99% of the JD Edwards (JDE) system affected by the 2024 cyberattack. The SABS continues to engage the AG and [is] providing progress reports on the recovery of financial systems,” Alli said. 

The SABS confirmed to Engineering News that the first set of yearly financial statements had been generated and was undergoing extensive reconciliation alongside year-end accounting procedures, insisting that it had always been part of the plan to submit its financials in 2026.

“The SABS has consistently communicated the January 2026 submission date and has never indicated that financial statements would be submitted by the original August deadline. Any suggestion that the SABS created expectations of presenting financials at the Parliamentary Committee of October 21 is therefore misleading,” the bureau said.

The SABS also assured stakeholders that its systems had been 99% restored since the cyberattack in November last year.

Upon the appointment of the acting CEO in July, only two JDE enterprise resource planning (ERP) modules had been recovered. However, the SABS has confirmed that most of the JDE modules are now fully functional and that the invoice backlog has been completely cleared.

The bureau added that its digitisation agenda had accelerated significantly, evidenced by the start of the Certification Information Management System and SABS Standards and Research Authoring Network projects, in September, alongside procurement processes for the ERP system.

Moreover, the SABS said a dedicated operational turnaround project was addressing organisational inefficiencies, including extended turnaround times and revenue losses.

“Both the Government Consultative Forum and Advisory Forum have been constituted, strengthening collaborative governance – a matter that has been repeatedly raised by the AG. [Also,] the competency assessment project has commenced and change agents for the culture programme have been selected,” the bureau said.

ONGOING ALLEGATIONS

Progress notwithstanding, and in addition to the delayed audit and investigation report, a new letter sent anonymously to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) and seen by Engineering News on October 31 has raised additional concerns about the SABS’s leadership, governance and internal operations.

Alli claims that Tau’s office has no knowledge of this letter.

In the letter, the anonymous whistleblower accuses the current acting CEO and the board of failing to stabilise the organisation following the suspension of two executives and the appointment of an external acting CEO.

“There was much excitement at the appointment of a new board, the announcement of an investigation into the mismanagement allegations, the suspension of two of the executives, the temporary appointment of an external acting CEO and then what?

“[Nothing] is happening at the SABS to fix things. The cabal of the previous regime still continue because the task of CEO is too big for the current incumbent and the board are expressing their incompetence day by day,” the letter alleged.

The whistleblower questioned why the process to appoint a permanent CEO had not begun, despite previous assurances that the acting CEO’s tenure would be limited to 12 months.

“Minister, you told us through your director general that the SABS acting CEO basis was for a maximum of 12 months and that the board would prioritise a permanent appointment and to stabilise the leadership. Where is the advert, at the very least, for the appointment of the [permanent] CEO? Where is the outcome of the TSU report?” the letter asks.

Further allegations include claims of “wasteful expenditure” in stakeholder and customer engagement departments, failure to advertise critical management posts, and prolonged acting appointments in key divisions without rotation or proper qualifications.

However, the SABS told Engineering News a different story, insisting that, since the new board was appointed in July, progress had been made in stabilising the entity.

“The board is tasked with the management of the recruitment process for a permanent CEO. Vacancies in the organisation are being advertised on an ongoing basis to reduce reliance on acting arrangements and ensure organisational stability. Since the acting CEO's appointment in July, 27 permanent appointments have been made, demonstrating tangible progress in building a stable workforce complement,” the SABS said.

Nonetheless, the whistleblower cited several individuals allegedly serving in acting capacities for extended periods without formal approval or the necessary credentials, contributing to ongoing operational failures such as customer service complaints and website problems.

“The call centre does not report when it’s down, downplays the number of complaints and is unable to service clients. While reports internally present a beautiful picture, the complaints from customers via the website, social media and to employees tell a different story,” the letter alleges.

The whistleblower also accused the acting CEO of undermining internal whistleblowing mechanisms.

“The acting CEO is intent on shutting down whistleblowing – so much so that he has coerced the head of legal, compliance and risk to illegally redefine what is a protected disclosure,” the letter claimed.

Employees reportedly objected to an internal communication that attempted to narrow the definition of protected disclosure to those made “in good faith, through proper channels and with reasonable belief of wrongdoing”.

According to the whistleblower, unresolved grievances dating back several years, a toxic work environment and the sidelining of dissenting staff have further eroded trust within the organisation.

“The management lack competency in resolving conflict and disputes and in addressing reports of wrongdoing. The environment is toxic and the leadership continue to hide things – undermining employees and clients,” the letter stated.

The SABS has, however, refuted these claims, stating that “the acting CEO has consistently emphasised the critical importance of whistleblowing in ensuring accountability and transparency. These mechanisms remain fundamental to the governance framework of the SABS and are actively protected.”

“Concern has been raised, however, regarding instances where these channels have been abused to pursue narrow personal agendas rather than genuine organisational concerns. The SABS remains committed to strengthening legitimate whistleblowing processes whilst ensuring they serve their intended purpose.”

Additional allegations raised by the whistleblower include claims of unpaid municipal debts, with the whistleblower saying, “On [X] – we learn that the SABS owes R20-million to the City of Tshwane. What is going on? What is the CFO even doing at the SABS and the acting chief shared services officer?”

The letter also criticised the quality of the SABS website, which was reportedly launched under the acting CEO’s instruction despite internal concerns.

“The quality of the writing is shocking. Such quality mistakes are the result of lack of management and poor quality control at the SABS,” the letter stated.

The whistleblower accused the acting CEO of bypassing normal governance structures and directly instructing junior employees, creating confusion and accountability gaps.

“The SABS needs to build its image, a placeholder CEO is not helping anybody. This current leadership at the SABS is not able to deal with challenges and it is time to appoint a permanent CEO who can remove the rot at the SABS and the company can start to rebuild itself,” the whistleblower said.