OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 2.15pm.
THE disciplinary hearing against Land Bank Managing Director Helena Dolny for improper conduct will go ahead as planned on Thursday, Agriculture and Land Affairs spokesman Gay Khaile said in Pretoria.
“There are no last-minute deals being struck. The hearing will proceed,” Khaile said.
Earlier reports spoke of behind-the-scenes moves to negotiate a settlement between Dolny and the government.
An independent inquiry by lawyer Michael Katz last month found that Dolny had overstepped her authority in awarding herself and other top officials salary increases.
In a statement on Wednesday the Land Bank Board said the disciplinary hearing will be confined to inviting the managing director to a “sanction hearing” to make representations in her defence on the question of mitigation.
Dolny’s lawyers on Wednesday night reportedly said they intended seeking an urgent court interdict to stop Thursday’s sanction hearing.
The Katz inquiry into Dolny was prompted by charges former board chairman Bonile Jack made in a letter to then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki in May.
Jack accused Dolny of racism and mismanagement. He claimed she was at odds with the board of the bank over, among others, the salary issue.
Katz cleared Dolny of any racism charges, but found she did not have the board’s authority when she ordered salary increases for the top six position in the bank.
The raise pushed Dolny’s annual salary from R630000 to more than one million rand.