Hush-hush R1m golden handshake for Voges
MBDA, metro leaders tight-lipped over secret deal to former agency boss
DETAILS of a confidential deal and a millionrand secret payout have emerged almost three weeks after former Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) chief executive Pierre Voges parted ways with the prized entity.
Leaders of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and MBDA are tightlipped about the behindthe-scenes negotiations which took place late last year before Voges announced his resignation.
Since walking away from the MBDA last month after 13 years at the helm, Voges has landed a top job as a consultant for the agency.
He has been hired on a shortterm contract by the MBDA to manage the city’s R2-billion Nelson Mandela Stadium.
While three metro insiders said the new job came with a R160 000a-month price tag, the MBDA said it was considerably lower but refused to divulge the amount.
MBDA board chairman Phil Goduka said Voges was in charge of finalising agreements with the stadium’s anchor tenants as well as drawing up a commercialisation plan for the stadium until a permanent manager was hired.
The job was advertised by the MBDA last month and the board hopes to fill the position by April.
News of Voges’s new job comes hot on the heels of a golden handshake – believed to be more than a million rand – that he is said to have secured from the MBDA before his departure.
While Goduka refused to say why Voges was given a payout, insiders said it was to avoid a protracted lawsuit.
Voges’s contract with the MBDA ended in April last year and he had been retained on a month-tomonth basis since then.
Four senior municipal insiders, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said a tussle between Voges and the board of directors had started towards the end of last year when the board decided to offer him a further six-month contract.
The idea had been to keep him as chief executive for six months while they began the search for a new MBDA head.
“Pierre refused to accept it – he wanted his contract to be extended for five years,” one insider said.
“His lawyers apparently advised him that he had a case because an expectation had been created that his contract would be extended for another five years.
“His contract had been extended for five years twice before and the board got legal advice which said Voges had a strong case and he could win.
“It was then decided that they should settle with him and he got about R1-million as a settlement.”
Another insider said confidentiality agreements had been signed and it was decided that Voges should resign.
Asked about the clandestine manner in which the payout was handled and why the public was never informed of the decision, Goduka said the board considered it a confidential matter between employer and employee.
The MBDA, although guided by the Companies Act and governed by the board, is funded by the taxpayer and is ultimately accountable to the municipal council.
Goduka refused to give details about the negotiations late last year which had ultimately led to the payout.
“A settlement agreement was concluded between the board and Mr Voges which was amicable to both parties,” was all he would say.
City Hall bosses would also not be drawn into answering questions about Voges’s golden handshake, referring all questions to Goduka.
During his campaign to win the metro last year, mayor Athol Trollip balked at the idea of golden handshakes for officials, saying the money could be used to build houses, create jobs and eradicate the bucket system.
He refused this week to answer questions about Voges’s payout.
Trollip and city manager Johann Mettler both referred questions on the issue to Goduka.
Pressed further on whether they were aware of the developments at the MBDA, Mettler said: “Although we were kept abreast of high-level developments, the principal decision-maker was the board and [its] spokesman is the chairman.”
Voges, who was vague previously when quizzed about his plans after leaving the MBDA, also referred all questions to the MBDA.