Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube's attempts at reform appear to be meeting with serious pushback from within her department - with her own officials allegedly attempting to smear her to ANC MPs.

On 27 March, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube did something highly unusual for a Cabinet Minister. She published an open letter in which she warned the public that her decision to bring in the Special Investigating Unit to conduct lifestyle audits was likely to cause trouble.

"In the coming days and weeks, you will witness a concerted fightback from those who stand to lose the most from this clean-up," Gwarube wrote.

She predicted the use of bot campaigns on social media, the misuse of parliamentary processes, and planted media stories - all to discredit Gwarube and her reform agenda.

Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn

The tone of the open letter was both urgent and concerning.

"I ask for your vigilance in the next few weeks," Gwarube wrote in conclusion.

What she did not give was any details about what, exactly, had driven her to write this extraordinary public appeal.

After speaking to department insiders and drawing on the help of Murmur, a digital intelligence firm, Daily Maverick has gathered a picture of a DA Minister in the GNU allegedly being strategically and continuously undermined by some of the key departmental officials on whose work the Minister is supposed to rely.

If these allegations are...