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Minister of Communications Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams. (@ PresidencyZA / Twitter)
- Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams fired Colleen Makhubele, a board member of the SA Post Office (Sapo).
- This after the junta wrote to the minister, accusing Makhubele of undermining delegated powers and authority.
- A source said the board agreed that Makhubele should be fired.
Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams fired Colleen Makhubele, a board member of the SA Post Office (Sapo), who accused the minister of abusing her powers and acting unconstitutionally.
A source said that Ndabeni-Abrahams called a meeting on Friday after receiving a letter from the interim chairwoman of the board, Catharina van der Sandt, asking for guidance after Makhubele was enraged during a meeting with the Communications Workers Union ( CWU).
The source said the board agreed to remove Makhubele.
Ndabeni-Abrahams spokesman Mish Molakeng told News24 that Makhubele was removed from office.
“The decision was made after a meeting heard from all the board members on Makhubele’s conduct.
“The matters disclosed by the board are confidential, but we can confirm that they were serious and concerning. Makhubele was not present at the meeting and voluntarily deprived herself of the opportunity to make a statement and be heard on the matter.”
READ | Post board chairman threatens Ndabeni-Abrahams with legal action for ‘abuse of power’
Molakeng said the department and Sapo would make a joint statement in due course.
In a letter, dated October 6, Van Der Sandt wrote that Makhubele had undermined the delegated powers and authority of the incoming interim CEO with the unions by repeatedly stating that he did not support specific Sapo restructuring initiatives.
He accused the former president of tarnishing the image of the executives, questioned the integrity of the board to the unions, tarnished the image of Ndabeni-Abrahams, and created the impression that he was the only person at Sapo who was truthful and cared about the interests of the workers. .
According to Van Der Sandt, Makhubele stood up during a meeting with the CWU and accused Ndabeni-Abrahams of not supporting some post office initiatives such as improved security and cash initiatives such as the Cashless ATM system. , and that the shareholder was not online. with what Toad wanted to do.
Some of the accusations included:
- Acting CEO Reneilwe Langa, in her previous position with the department, had written to her to counter cashless ATMs, which were meant to save costs on security.
- A strategic restructuring plan had raised 1.8 billion rand for pre-financing, 500 million rand raised for operations, and there was also 700 million rand raised by Grindrod, but these agreements were in place with the department.
- Evidence of this matter was discussed, including the Grindrod matter with the department, National Treasury and even the rest of the funding, but this was not prioritized and the focus was placed on Postbank.
- A fight between Sapo and Postbank, as the relationship cannot benefit Postbank with only 260 people against Sapo’s 18,000 and the post office cannot sell his birthright to Postbank for a bowl of soup.
- There was no reason why Postbank couldn’t fund Sapo without pointing a gun at his head, and then he requested the union’s help in this matter.
- R350 grant costs were wearing Sapo down, and now workers were being mugged, infrastructure was broken, and there was chaos on the ground.
- There was fraud in the Blue Label affair and a case was opened regarding transactions between Blue Label and Postbank and this had negatively impacted Sapo.
- Responding, Ndabeni-Abrahams requested a special general meeting to determine whether it was appropriate for Makhubele to be retained or removed as Sapo’s director.
The minister said it was clear that she had acted in a manner “lacking in honesty, fairness, transparency, accountability and responsibility towards her fellow board members.”
Ndabeni-Abrahams added that Makhubele intended to “sow discord” between the board and the unions “if not between the board and the employees themselves, to Sapo’s detriment.”
“His actions on the day were in bad faith and for a purpose that was probably inappropriate and not in Sapo’s best interest.”
“He did not seem to understand the importance of his position as a senior member of the board of directors of a state entity of significant economic importance to the country, and faced unique and potentially incurable financial challenges.”
“She did not regret her actions and, when confronted, she refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said.
