In an escalation of a boardroom brawl that has left the loss-making SA Post Office (Sapo) rudderless, demoted chair Colleen Makhubele has accused communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams of abusing her powers and acting unconstitutionally.
In court papers filed in the high court in Pretoria challenging her demotion to an ordinary board member, Makhubele alleged that “improper considerations” were behind her removal from the role she had occupied since October 2019.
“The minister has acted unconstitutionally, procedurally and has been influenced and motivated by improper considerations,” she said. “This clearly constitutes an abuse of power and I believe that I have been victimised as I am not supporting the minister’s agendas.”
Ndabeni-Abrahams has previously not responded to numerous requests for comment on allegations, including her alleged interference in Sapo and her abuse of power.
Makhubele was removed about two weeks ago after clashing with the minister over the board’s decision to institute disciplinary action against acting CEO Ivumile Nongogo, who has since resigned, for striking a deal with the SA Social Security Agency to distribute the Covid-19 relief grants without the board’s knowledge.
The battle between the board and Ndabeni-Abrahams comes at an inopportune time for Sapo, which suffered more than R1bn losses in the past financial year, extending its money-losing streak to 13 years. Sapo is among several state-owned companies that rely on government bailouts to stay afloat.
Nongogo is the second acting CEO at the Post Office in eight months after his predecessor, Lindiwe Kwele, was suspended over allegations of a conflict of interest and irregular extensions of contracts. Kwele is challenging her suspension in an arbitration process.
However, the minister has refused to accept Nongogo’s resignation and has rejected the board’s recommendation that COO Refilwe Kekana be handed the reins on a temporary basis on grounds that “any further changes would destabilise the organisation’s operations, which are already volatile”, according to a letter seen by Business Day.
Makhubele said her removal, for which she alleged no reasons were given, was connected to her refusal to reinstate Nongogo as acting CEO and her resistance to a partnership with Blue Label Telecoms and Postbank that would have been a deviation in regular supply chain processes.
She said she had laid fraud charges against an employee who used the Post Office letterhead to ask the Treasury for permission to deviate from normal process so the bank could team up with Blue Label. Makhubele said the partnership had not been signed off by the board.
“I firmly believe that there is a real connection between my refusal to reinstate Mr Nongogo [and] my challenge of the Blue Label matter. I believe that my demotion resulted from these actions,” Makhubele said.
“I have a fiduciary duty as chair and director of the board of third respondent [Sapo] and at all material times complied with these duties. This, however, has upset the minister to the extent that she demoted me.”
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