The suspended CEO of the Independent Development Trust (IDT), Tebogo Malaka, has resigned ahead of a disciplinary hearing scheduled for February.
The hearing was scheduled after an independent PwC forensic report into a R836m project. The IDT, acting as an implementing agent for the health department, was tasked with rolling out oxygen plants to 55 hospitals, which the investigation uncovered as “a textbook case of public sector malfeasance”.
Malaka was also in the news last year after the Daily Maverick reported she had attempted to bribe a journalist with cash stuffed inside a white Dior shopping bag in an attempt to halt their reporting on her business affairs.
Public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson said the IDT board had confirmed Malaka’s resignation, with effect from January 31, “is without any exit compensation”.
“While Ms Malaka resigned before the disciplinary process could be concluded, I welcome the fact that her resignation comes without a golden handshake,” he said.
“Her resignation does not immunise her from criminal investigations or any civil proceedings that may arise. This reaffirms our position that no individual in the department, or any of its entities, is above ethical governance, the law, or accountability, and that accountability does not fall away simply because someone resigns.
“We urge law enforcement agencies to conclude the criminal investigations without delay.”
Macpherson said since the IDT board’s appointment last year, “great strides have been made to bring governance stability to the entity”.
TimesLIVE
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