marine1
Honorary Master
http://www.iol.co.za/business/companies/telkom-ceo-hits-back-1.1025376
Pathetic, it just does not stop in this country does it
Telkom has suspended its foundation’s chief executive Reabetsoe Motsepe for making an irregular payment request for close to R4-million for a community project not approved by the organisation.
Motsepe will appear before a disciplinary hearing next Thursday on charges of misconduct for allegedly submitting a request for payment of R3.9m for a community project that was not sanctioned by the foundation’s board of trustees.
Her disciplinary hearing was supposed to sit on Friday, but was postponed for reasons not provided by the fixed-line operator.
In terms of her disciplinary notification, which The Sunday Independent has seen, Motsepe is accused of submitting misleading documents in July last year when seeking approval for a community project which promotes skills development.
Motsepe has hit back, saying that she was a victim of abuse of power by Telkom’s chief of corporate governance, Ouma Rasethaba.
In a potentially damaging affidavit signed by someone who identified herself as Motsepe, signed at the Sandton police station on January 18, she claims that at a meeting in August last year Rasethaba and Telkom’s head of payment, Igbal Moola, listened to her explanation regarding the circumstances of the irregular request, and apologised to her for referring the matter for investigation.
“There is no basis upon which Advocate Rasethaba is suspending and instituting disciplinary action against me on the grounds that this matter was dealt with at an appropriate forum where Advocate Rasethaba chaired the corrective meeting and both of them apologised to me,” the document reads.
Telkom acting CEO Jeffrey Hedberg has instituted a probe into the explosive allegations apparently made by Motsepe in the affidavit.
The fight between Motsepe and Rasethaba is described in another dossier released a fortnight ago by Cosatu affiliate the Communication Workers Union (CWU). It comes as Hedberg prepares to step down at the end of next month.
Another phase of retrenchments looms at the troubled parastatal.
When contacted, Motsepe said she was never suspended and denied having written the affidavit. But she confirmed the ID number and residential address on the affidavit as her own but argued the affidavit might have been compiled by somebody who knew her and wanted to cause her harm.
Sandton police spokesperson Captain Kyn Cloete confirmed that the signature of the officer on the affidavit belongs to one of their members.
“I can confirm that we have such a member working at Sandton. However, we don’t keep records of affidavits,” she said. “As long as the person says they are telling the truth we sign,” she added.
“I am not on suspension,” said Motsepe. “There was an attempt to suspend me because of a squabble between me and her (Rasethaba), but it was sorted out in less than a week,” she said.
Telkom has dismissed the latest dossier as a “collection of untested allegations produced by a group of individuals who continually trade with distorted information they obtain through the privilege of their positions”.
Pynee Chetty, Telkom spokesman, has confirmed that “Motsepe is indeed suspended”.
In an interview with The Sunday Independent, Rasethaba alleged Motsepe was using the affidavit to avoid being disciplined.
“She is trying to avoid coming to the disciplinary hearing… She is trying to be a whistleblower,” she said.
Rasethaba said Motsepe’s irregular request was thwarted by Moola, who, in turn, referred it for investigation. She said the meeting that Motsepe referred to in the affidavit did not discuss the irregular request.
“We couldn’t have gone into that matter. It was sub judice,” she said.
In the dossier, the union alleges that the foundation has been dogged by numerous irregularities related to how its resources are used.
“Numerous irregularities with regard to the management of Telkom Foundation resources have come to the fore. These issues have been raised at various corporate governance meetings,” reads the document.
Telkom managing director Pinky Moholi said: “I am annoyed at having to respond to yet another dossier from the same sources, whose motives are known, and who continually trade with distorted information they obtain through the privilege of their positions”.
The Telkom board said the uncertainty about leadership at the organisation gave rise to the dossier.
Telkom said it remained committed to investigating all the allegations in order to confirm or reject them. - Sunday independent
Pathetic, it just does not stop in this country does it
Telkom has suspended its foundation’s chief executive Reabetsoe Motsepe for making an irregular payment request for close to R4-million for a community project not approved by the organisation.
Motsepe will appear before a disciplinary hearing next Thursday on charges of misconduct for allegedly submitting a request for payment of R3.9m for a community project that was not sanctioned by the foundation’s board of trustees.
Her disciplinary hearing was supposed to sit on Friday, but was postponed for reasons not provided by the fixed-line operator.
In terms of her disciplinary notification, which The Sunday Independent has seen, Motsepe is accused of submitting misleading documents in July last year when seeking approval for a community project which promotes skills development.
Motsepe has hit back, saying that she was a victim of abuse of power by Telkom’s chief of corporate governance, Ouma Rasethaba.
In a potentially damaging affidavit signed by someone who identified herself as Motsepe, signed at the Sandton police station on January 18, she claims that at a meeting in August last year Rasethaba and Telkom’s head of payment, Igbal Moola, listened to her explanation regarding the circumstances of the irregular request, and apologised to her for referring the matter for investigation.
“There is no basis upon which Advocate Rasethaba is suspending and instituting disciplinary action against me on the grounds that this matter was dealt with at an appropriate forum where Advocate Rasethaba chaired the corrective meeting and both of them apologised to me,” the document reads.
Telkom acting CEO Jeffrey Hedberg has instituted a probe into the explosive allegations apparently made by Motsepe in the affidavit.
The fight between Motsepe and Rasethaba is described in another dossier released a fortnight ago by Cosatu affiliate the Communication Workers Union (CWU). It comes as Hedberg prepares to step down at the end of next month.
Another phase of retrenchments looms at the troubled parastatal.
When contacted, Motsepe said she was never suspended and denied having written the affidavit. But she confirmed the ID number and residential address on the affidavit as her own but argued the affidavit might have been compiled by somebody who knew her and wanted to cause her harm.
Sandton police spokesperson Captain Kyn Cloete confirmed that the signature of the officer on the affidavit belongs to one of their members.
“I can confirm that we have such a member working at Sandton. However, we don’t keep records of affidavits,” she said. “As long as the person says they are telling the truth we sign,” she added.
“I am not on suspension,” said Motsepe. “There was an attempt to suspend me because of a squabble between me and her (Rasethaba), but it was sorted out in less than a week,” she said.
Telkom has dismissed the latest dossier as a “collection of untested allegations produced by a group of individuals who continually trade with distorted information they obtain through the privilege of their positions”.
Pynee Chetty, Telkom spokesman, has confirmed that “Motsepe is indeed suspended”.
In an interview with The Sunday Independent, Rasethaba alleged Motsepe was using the affidavit to avoid being disciplined.
“She is trying to avoid coming to the disciplinary hearing… She is trying to be a whistleblower,” she said.
Rasethaba said Motsepe’s irregular request was thwarted by Moola, who, in turn, referred it for investigation. She said the meeting that Motsepe referred to in the affidavit did not discuss the irregular request.
“We couldn’t have gone into that matter. It was sub judice,” she said.
In the dossier, the union alleges that the foundation has been dogged by numerous irregularities related to how its resources are used.
“Numerous irregularities with regard to the management of Telkom Foundation resources have come to the fore. These issues have been raised at various corporate governance meetings,” reads the document.
Telkom managing director Pinky Moholi said: “I am annoyed at having to respond to yet another dossier from the same sources, whose motives are known, and who continually trade with distorted information they obtain through the privilege of their positions”.
The Telkom board said the uncertainty about leadership at the organisation gave rise to the dossier.
Telkom said it remained committed to investigating all the allegations in order to confirm or reject them. - Sunday independent
