The CEO of the Estate Agency Affairs Board has lost her job, the board said on Tuesday.
“The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) wishes to announce that the employment contract between itself and Mrs Nomonde Mapetla, the erstwhile chief executive officer, has been terminated with immediate effect due to an irreconcilable breakdown in the working relationship between the parties,” it said in a statement.
Mapetla’s contract was due to expire on July 15.
“The board is steadfastly confident that, in the interim, the EAAB will continue to fulfil its statutory regulatory functions and duties in an effective and efficient manner.”
Deloitte has been appointed to undertake a forensic investigation into all operational and governance issues affecting the organisation “as is usual under circumstances of this nature”, the board said.
“The board, in the light of recent events, also intends to draft and adopt a transparent policy pertaining especially to its inspection and investigation activities.
“The proposed policy will, thereafter, be published on the EAAB website for the information of all stakeholders.”
Mapetla was suspended on February 17. Staff were told that she had been placed on special leave for four weeks and an investigation into her conduct would be launched.
‘Chummy chummy’
The suspension came just days after Mapetla ordered an investigation into Lew Geffen Estates.
Lew Geffen said “neither he nor the company” was notified that such an investigation was even contemplated.
The Sunday Times reported that insiders claimed Mapetla’s approach to investigating the big names in the industry might have played a role and that staff at the EAAB had apparently lodged complaints about her.
The board was reportedly also unhappy with her recent comments in the media.
Mapetla said that when she took over the EAAB she was shocked at how “chummy chummy” it had been with the industry players and that it had allowed “the big boys to tell you [EAAB] how to govern the industry”.
Mapetla took up the post of CEO six years ago.
She was credited with launching a clean-up of the industry which resulted in major players such as Wendy Machanik, Seeff Properties and Wakefields facing internal and criminal charges. – Sapa