The Eastern Cape Department of Education has placed its Director of Communications and Events Management, Vuyiseka Aviwe Mboxela, on an immediate precautionary suspension following serious allegations of unauthorized IT system access and data leaks.

The suspension, formalized in an official letter from the Office of the Director for Employee Relations and Advocacy dated 23 October 2026, details a highly unusual situation where the communications chief allegedly breached departmental systems while already serving an active precautionary suspension.

According to departmental documents, the administration obtained information showing that Mboxela bypassed security boundaries to access and intercept sensitive departmental information and internal correspondence without authorization.

Furthermore, she stands accused of illicitly forwarding official emails and institutional data from the department’s secure infrastructure directly to her personal Gmail account.

The department’s executive authority noted that her continued presence poses a potential threat to the integrity of the ongoing probe.

“It is not deemed in the interest of the Department that you continue in your current position until an investigation has been concluded,” the notice reads, emphasizing concerns that she could potentially interfere with witnesses critical to the misconduct investigation.

The suspension has been executed under Chapter 7 of the Senior Management Service (SMS) Handbook’s Disciplinary Code and Procedures.

The investigation is expected to pave the way for a formal disciplinary hearing to determine the full extent of the data compromise.

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