According to Claudia Manning, Mondli Gungubele spent a considerable amount of time questioning the board about whether it handled the Matjila investigation appropriately.
The board of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) was not functioning well particularly after former chief executive Dan Matjila was accused of corruption, the Mpati commission of inquiry heard on Tuesday.
This is according to testimony by former non-executive director Claudia Manning, who told the commission that the board had been divided since September 2017 when the James Nogu emails emerged.
An anonymous whistleblower — using the non de plume James Nogu — sent emails to PIC executives and board members accusing former chief executive Dan Matjila of contravening PIC policies and procedures for the purposes of channelling PIC money to a business where his alleged girlfriend was a director and shareholder.
This company was said to have wrongfully received R21-million in corporate social investment funds. The emails said Matjila had instructed a company in which the PIC had invested to settle R300 000 of the girlfriend’s personal debt.
“The period between September and December 2017 can be best described as tumultuous characterised by fierce divisions in the board, creating a tense polarised environment at the board,” Manning said.
“Both management and the board were devoting considerable attention to managing the crises rather than on the core business of the PIC,” Manning added.
At the time, Manning said the board had ordered an internal investigation into the matter and agreed with the findings that the allegations that Matjila had acted improperly were unfounded. However, Matjila was rebuked for requesting that a company which had done business with the PIC settle the woman’s debt as this could bring the PIC into disrepute.
Manning said the divisions became apparent in June 2018 when the new chairman of the board, deputy finance minister Mondli Gungubele met with the rest of the board to discuss a legal challenge by United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa.
Holomisa wanted the courts to direct then finance minister Nhlanhla Nene to suspend Matjila and conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations against Matjila.
According to Manning, Gungubele spent a considerable amount of time questioning the board about whether it handled the Matjila investigation appropriately.
“Over the course of the meeting and over the next few weeks it became clear to me that the chairman had taken a view that the board had acted wrongly in its response to the allegations against the CEO,” said Manning.
She said the matter came to a head when in July, despite a decision by the board to oppose the court application brought by Holomisa, Gungubele did not oppose the application in his responding affidavit.
Instead, Gungubele stated the board blindly relied on the views and advice of Matjila “and in the process compromised its duty of care”.
“Mr Gungubele’s approach to the application clearly revealed that he had no confidence in the board and in fact accused it of having acted improperly. In the circumstances, I decided that I could not remain on the board and tendered my resignation,” said Manning.
She told the commission that she had worked with Matjila and acting CEO Matshepo More for over 2.5 years since she started serving on the board and said in her experience it “demonstrated good professional conduct, was proficient in its knowledge of the PIC and exercised their duties diligently”.
The commission will resume on Wednesday. The identity of witnesses is at present, under wraps.