Staff allege that Thabo Ndabeni used the organisation to enrich himself
Khadija Magardie
The man insiders say is responsible for the collapse of the dispute resolution body the Independent Mediation Service of South Africa (Imssa) is running his own consultancy The Grain of Wheat Consulting just a stone’s throw from where Imssa’s offices were. His client base is similar to Imssa’s, leading to allegations by former staff that he took Imssa’s database of clients. The former national director of Imssa, Thabo Ndabeni, operates from two rented rooms in a plush building in Auckland Park, Johannesburg.
The respected organisation was forced to close its doors last year after going bust. Faced with a spiralling debt of more than R3-million, the organisation had no money to pay its contracted mediators or its employees, or to conduct its work.
Lawyers are finalising the liquidation of the company after a decision by its board of trustees late last year that it could not be saved. Former staff are struggling to come to terms with Imssa’s collapse, saying it leaves “a huge void” in the delivery of industrial dispute mediation, arbitration and resolution in South Africa. They blame Ndabeni’s financial mismanagement, corruption and nepotism for running the company into the ground and costing the jobs of about 40 people.
Appointed in 1998 to steer the company, he left last year to start his own dispute resolution company. Staff say Ndabeni “misled” them about the financial state of affairs of Imssa, so they did not realise the company was seriously in the red until it was too late. More serious are allegations that Ndabeni conducted work for his new company from Imssa premises. According to an internal investigation conducted last year, an independent consultant charged Ndabeni with breaching his employment contract by running a separate business doing identical work, while employed by Imssa. His fledgling company, which also goes by the name Independent Marketing Services (IMS), operates from premises directly behind Imssa’s old offices. The similarity of the acronyms is no coincidence, say former Imssa staff, and is evidence that Ndabeni is attempting to cash in on the reputation and name of Imssa. Some staff say they saw Ndabeni sending out funding proposals and conducting general office work for his company from Imssa’s offices. They also allege that Ndabeni took valuable training material from the company, photocopying some and failing to return others. Ndabeni also allegedly tried to poach clients from Imssa. A former employee in Cape Town says she received a call from Ndabeni, asking for information on important clients. The closure of Imssa will mean a severe bottleneck in the number of industrial relations cases being settled through dispute resolution, and may exacerbate the already heavy workload of the state-funded statutory body, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration which does similar work.
According to Mark Turpin, a staff member who was appointed acting director late last year to try to save Imssa, the organisation had been sustaining itself through donor funds and self-created funding projects. Despite a dwindling in overseas funding, Imssa managed to remain afloat by streamlining its operations particularly by cutting down on staff. “It was when he [Ndabeni] came that the rot set in,” says Turpin, adding that the entire management style of the company changed with the appointment. According to former staffers, Ndabeni created a “fiefdom” around himself, appointing friends to important positions and overlooking senior, more experienced members of staff. Among other things, the former national director is accused of: l Repeatedly avoiding giving “proper” financial information to Imssa’s board of trustees; l Hiring consultants to produce a financial strategy document, to the tune of R90 000; l Issuing a memorandum placing a moratorium on staff loans from the company, but giving himself a hefty R26 000 loan, which he later repaid; l Creating a post of “head of communications” in the company, and appointing someone to the post without advertising it internally; l Granting a R30 000 staff loan to a friend and fellow director, telling her she could repay it at R500 a month; l Failing to show up for a crucial meeting with donors in Europe last year, instead choosing to fly to Ethiopia to conduct training on behalf of Imssa. The donors later refused to reschedule the no-show. Despite several attempts to reach Ndabeni telephonically and a visit to his offices on Wednesday, he could not be contacted.
When it was established in 1984 Imssa was initially given the task of resolving labour disputes a process that involves mediation and arbitration between parties as an alternative to lengthy and often costly litigation.
In the early 1990s, however, it extended its work into the community and political arena. One of its most recent activities was mediating between the East Rand-based Brakpan Bus Service and the Springs Taxi Association. According to an Imssa project facilitator, the mediation avoided what could have been a replica of the recent bus and taxi wars in the Western Cape. Counting among its clients both private companies like Coca-Cola and South African Breweries, public bodies like Transnet and Rand Water, and several trade unions, Imssa was wholly independent of government and relied on donor funding for its survival.
Insiders believe that donor disinterest in supporting Imssa was sparked by Ndabeni’s non-committal attitude.
Despite the prospect of no salary cheque at the end of the month, as well as no other benefits such as the yearly 13th cheque, staff remained with the embattled organisation until it became clear it could not be saved.
Turpin said the organisation had always been for the benefit of the public. “Imssa is like a lighthouse: once it’s built, everyone benefits from the light,” he said.