AngloGold Ashanti has come out in defence of its chair, Maria Ramos, who has been accused by Absa non-executive director Sipho Pityana of improperly influencing the banking regulator to block his appointment as chair of the Absa board.
AngloGold also said it had complete confidence in a report it conducted in 2020 into allegations that Pityana sexually harassed a senior member of staff when he was chair of the company.
Pityana resigned from the company after an investigation into the matter made an adverse finding against him. However, he maintains that the investigation was not properly done because crucial witness evidence was not considered.
In a move that has sent shock waves through business and political circles, Pityana is suing the Prudential Authority (PA), which regulates the sector, for failing to follow the procedures outlined in the Banks Act for the approval of directors of lenders and for allowing third parties, such as Ramos, to influence procedures. Pityana also maintains the long-standing friendship between Ramos and Kuben Naidoo, head of the PA, enabled her to have “unfettered access” to the regulator.
In reply to questions, AngloGold said on Tuesday: “AngloGold’s board emphatically rejects the allegations being made by Mr Pityana against its chairman, Maria Ramos, and against AngloGold Ashanti, which are baseless. The matter of Absa’s chairmanship is one between Mr Pityana and the board of that company.”
The Absa board, which, according to Pityana, had at first unanimously backed him to become chair, failed to nominate him formally, after informal interaction with the PA.
On Tuesday, the board announced it had designated former Old Mutual Asset Managers CEO Sello Moloko as its future chair. Moloko is the chair of both Telkom and Momentum Metropolitan Holdings but will relinquish his role at Momentum before joining the Absa board in December. The current chair, Wendy Lucas-Bull, will retire in March 2022.
AngloGold said it has full confidence in its own processes and decisions with regard to the sexual harassment issue.
“In response to allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Pityana, AngloGold’s board initiated an independent investigation, led by a senior counsel.
“Consistent with the company’s values and the need to always safeguard the rights of AngloGold Ashanti employees, and the rights of the victim in particular, we will not comment further,” it said.
In his affidavit to the high court in Gauteng, Pityana points out that a review of the investigation commissioned by Absa found the report to be fundamentally flawed.
Senior attorney Pete Harris, who conducted the review, said the senior counsel who did the investigation failed to request or consider the evidence of Pityana’s close protection officers, who were with the complainant at the time they alleged the incident had occurred.
Absa made only scant comment on the issue on Tuesday.
“We confirm that Absa Group and Absa Bank have been cited in proceedings instituted by Mr Sipho Pityana in which he seeks a declaratory order against the Prudential Authority. Absa is cited as an interested party, but no relief is sought against it.
“Absa has conducted a robust chairman succession process, which started in October 2020. During this process, which involved an extensive search, Absa considered both internal and external candidates who applied for the position of chairman of the Absa boards.
“After the completion of this process the Absa boards resolved to nominate Mr Sello Moloko for the position and submitted his nomination as independent non-executive director and chair to the Prudential Authority for approval. The Prudential Authority approved Mr Moloko’s nomination.”
The saga will result in further turbulence at Absa, which is without a permanent CEO after the first black person in the position — former Reserve Bank deputy governor Daniel Mminele — left after 15 months. Pityana remains on the board as the lead independent director but with Absa likely to be compelled to join the proceedings, the relationship is in the balance.
The Reserve Bank, on behalf of the PA, said on Monday that it would defend the action and it believes it acted within its mandate with regard to the matter.
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