Documents obtained by Daily Maverick suggest that a former household employee of Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe was made to pay half her government-funded monthly salary to Tolashe's daughter.

When Thandi* heard that she would be appointed by the Department of Social Development to work for Minister Sisisi Tolashe, she could not believe her luck.

Thandi was employed as a "food aide", and she told Daily Maverick it had been her understanding that she would work at one of Tolashe's two official residences, situated in Cape Town and Pretoria.

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Instead, she would end up working and living at the Minister's private residence in East London, along with other members of Tolashe's family.

And there was another unwelcome aspect: she would be required to pay around half her government-funded salary monthly to Tolashe's daughter, Kanyisa, to contribute towards household expenses.

Both her employment at Tolashe's private residence at the government's expense and her mandatory monthly payments to help subsidise the household would appear to be violations of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) regulations for members of the executive, as laid out in the Ministerial Handbook, as well as possibly the Public Service Act.

Daily Maverick sent questions to Tolashe through Department of Social Development spokesperson Sandy Gondlwana, who confirmed receiving them but was unable to provide a response by the time of publication.

Whatsapps to Kanyisa...