Ex-dti senior Garth Strachan appointed as acting SABS chief executive

GARTH Strachan, previously the deputy director-general of the industrial development division at the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), has been appointed acting chief executive of the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS).

This follows the resignation of former SABS chief executive Boni Mehlomakulu, effective from yesterday, after she was suspended last Thursday by the three SABS co-administrators.

The suspension followed Mehlomakulu last week unsuccessfully applying to the Gauteng North High Court in Pretoria for an urgent interdict after Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies in June dissolved and removed the entire SABS board, including Mehlomakulu, because he said that he had lost faith in its ability to effectively manage the bureau.

Strachan was one of the co-administrators. The other co-administrators are SABS group operating officer Jodi Scholtz and chief director technical infrastructure institutions at the dti Tshenge Demana.

They were tasked with undertaking a diagnostic analysis and developing a “turnaround strategy” to improve operations at the SABS.

Sidwell Medupe, a spokesperson for the dti, confirmed at the weekend that Mehlomakulu had been placed on “precautionary suspension with full pay and remains an employee of the SABS”.