Agency all but water wise
SOURCES BLOW LID ON BODY LOOKING AFTER GAUTENG’S WATER Acting CEO quits amid claims of serious financial mismanagement.
The agency responsible for ensuring Gauteng doesn’t run out of water has seen its acting CEO, Leonard Radzuma, quitting yesterday, allegedly out of frustration.
Whistle-blowers at the Trans-Caledonian Tunnel Authority (TCTA) have accused the water agency of ongoing serious financial mismanagement.
The TCTA is responsible for, among other things, the operation, maintenance and management of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project in South Africa.
Well-placed sources allege the embattled agency recently agreed to rehire its chief operating officer (COO) and pay her close to R5 million as an alleged trade-off for her dropping all claims she may have had against the company.
The TCTA currently has debt liabilities of R29 billion. It is expected it will have to borrow R9 billion from the markets for this coming financial year.
The COO, Jeanette Nhlapo, was allegedly brought back irregularly. Her contract had ended in 2016 and it is understood the previous chairperson of the board, Monhla Hlahla, obtained a legal opinion that said Nhlapo could not be brought back.
Instead, Nhlapo returned to work in December last year and allegedly received a R5 million windfall in lieu of the time she had been away. One whistle-blower claims this soft landing for Nhlapo was questionable, since she is seen to be close to board chairperson Zodwa Manase.
Manase, in a response provided by company secretary Nomsa Wasabie-Mazibuko, confirmed Nhlapo’s re-employment. She said “after noting and considering the contents of both the Ernst & Young [EY] report, as well as the legal opinion from Werksmans Attorneys, the board approved by a majority decision on January 9 to reach a settlement agreement”.
Manase confirmed that in addition to the reports, the board had in June 2016 obtained another legal opinion from Selemo Attorneys. Manase said the advice they received was on how the board should handle the termination of executives’ contracts.
She said the delegation of authority (DOA) in the organisation provides that the CEO can appoint and remove executive management in consultation with the remuneration committee. The previous CEO had unlawfully amended the DOA “so that the CEO could make decisions pertaining to the appointment and removal of executive management without consultation”.
“It is correct that Nhlapo has served three terms as COO,” Manase said.
She said although the employer was not at “liberty” to disclose what the exact amount came to, it was less than R5 million and “less than the remuneration to which she would have been entitled for the actual period for which she was out of work”.
Nhlapo denied allegations that she had incurred a R150 000 phone bill while on an international trip and said “this is a cost relating to calls and data usage over a period of 21 months” and R166 407.60 was deducted from “my salary”.
Whistle-blowers claim Muziwandile Msizi Chonco, who is also an executive at Anheuser-Busch InBev in Africa, was “illegally” brought on to the TCTA board. The minister did not forward his name to Cabinet as part of board members she recommended.
A Cabinet announcement of new board members indeed makes no mention of Chonco. Questions posed about Chonco were not addressed by Manase.
On the day of the recent Cabinet reshuffle, Mlimandlela Nda- mase, the spokesperson to former minister of water affairs and sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane, committed to provide answers on these questions the next day. But calls for further comment have subsequently gone unanswered.
The sources claim Manase and her board have created administrative paralysis at the entity by stalling on the appointment of a CEO, despite interviews having been concluded in November. This may result in bypassing supply chain management processes since tenders will need to be awarded irregularly.
They further allege the board is also delaying the awarding of multibillion-rand contracts, which will have a crippling effect on the roll-out of Phase III of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
The Citizen was reliably informed about acting CEO Radzuma resigning. Manase, however, told The Citizen Radzuma had simply “stepped down” after acting for 16 months. She also poured cold water on all allegations and said “the board merely exercises oversight functions to ensure that the tender process secures the best tenders”.
Manase, the owner of an auditing firm, is no stranger to controversy. In 2012, she was found guilty on 12 counts of contravening the Income Tax Act and was sentenced to 12 years in jail suspended for five years and ordered to pay Sars R1.4 million. The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants confirmed her membership lapsed in September 2013.
Although the employer was not at ‘liberty’ to disclose what the exact amount came to, it was less than R5 million. Zodwa Manase Board chairperson