‘No one sits on my couch’: Mamodupi Mohlala accused of misconduct and bullying

The controversial attorney and CEO stands her ground despite various charges of misconduct and bullying

Controversial SABC board member Mamodupi Mohlala who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB), is facing battle on multiple fronts, with her colleagues, the public broadcaster, government and her own staff raising questions about her conduct. 

Mohlala, a prominent attorney, has in the past had public blow-ups with superiors, staff and industry stakeholders in several public institutions she has headed.

City Press has learnt through documents, letters and interviews with various sources that:

• SABC board chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini alerted the human settlements department – under which the EAAB falls – that Mohlala was receiving SABC board fees in an apparent violation of rules stipulating that government employees who sit on boards of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) may not collect payment;
• Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu asked EAAB chairperson Nkosinathi Biko to clarify the process through which Mohlala was appointed;
• EAAB member Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw wrote to Sisulu, painting a bleak picture of the state of affairs at the organisation since Mohlala took over in February; and
• Staff have accused her of bullying and arbitrarily cutting benefits.

Mohlala dismissed the accusations against her, calling them “a concerted campaign to discredit me due to my efforts to transform the industry and a system that has been laden with practices that are improper and untoward in the IT and finance departments”.

She said there were some board members “who are posing a serious hindrance to my ability to discharge my responsibilities”.

DOUBLE DIPPING

In a letter written in November and addressed to Joseph Leshabane, the acting director-general in the department of human settlements, Makhathini confirmed – following a department inquiry – that Mohlala had received board remuneration from the SABC until September.

This, despite a Treasury directive that “employees of national, provincial and local government, or institutions, agencies and entities of government serving as office-bearers on public entities or institutions are not entitled to additional remuneration”.

Makhathini told Leshabane that Mohlala had voluntarily written to the SABC’s board secretary in August “seeking clarity on the matter” and proposing that “remuneration should be terminated in the meantime, and that payments will be refunded where needed”.

She joined the SABC board in April.

Makhathini’s confirmation appears to have infuriated Mohlala, who wrote a harshly worded letter in which she accused him of going behind her back.

“I am taken aback by the contents of the said letter ... There are various procedural and substantive irregularities that I believe were occasioned by your conduct in regard to this matter which have caused me not only prejudice, but have also caused injury to my person,” Mohlala wrote.

She said she was greatly concerned that the first time she knew of Makhathini’s letter, which she describes as “these clandestine discussions”, was when she was contacted by a journalist.

She demanded that Makhathini withdraw the letter and that the matter be tabled before the January board meeting “for full discussion” so that all board members who were similarly affected would be treated equally.

Mohlala confirmed to City Press that she had received two payments since being appointed to the SABC board, but said she had not received any remuneration in the past five months.

She said that because the EAAB was funded through member subscriptions and not from the national fiscus, “the Treasury regulation would not squarely be applicable to my circumstances”.

“The rationale for the Treasury practice is to prevent public servants from double dipping or being paid from the fiscus twice. In my situation this is not the case,” she said.

APPOINTMENT QUERIED

Two weeks ago, Sisulu wrote to Biko asking for records of the process followed in appointing Mohlala.

“I hereby request that you provide my office with the following information within seven days of the date of the signature of this letter … proof of ministerial approval, if any; proof of security clearance and vetting; proof of qualifications; results of competency assessments; and proof of Cabinet concurrence, if any,” the letter read.

Human settlements spokesperson Mandulo Maphumulo said the scrutiny of Mohlala’s appointment and the SABC payments were part of the department’s governance and oversight duties: “This came after engaging with Mohlala on the matter of her board membership at the SABC. The oversight and monitoring work is standard procedure of the department on its entities.”

It is not clear whether Sisulu’s intervention was prompted by complaints from board members and staff about Mohlala’s conduct.

In one such complaint, written at the beginning of October, the EAAB’s Kula-Ameyaw told Sisulu that because she was “jointly and severally liable“ for the EAAB’s wellbeing, she was duty-bound to bring to the minister’s attention “the current CEO’s conduct and corporate governance violations”.

She suggested that Mohlala had usurped board responsibilities, including the audit recommendations which should be carried out by the EAAB’s audit and risk committee.

She said that as a black woman and an empowerment expert, she had championed Mohlala’s appointment – and had even lobbied the minister on her behalf.

“My support was based on the fact that she did well in the interview and could drive transformation ... The weaknesses from her [personal] test could be addressed through coaching,” wrote Kula-Ameyaw.

She said that although Mohlala was entitled to four free coaching lessons, the latter had rejected these once she got the job.

“I ate my humble pie for that support because she [Mohlala] told the human resources committee that she does not believe in coaching,” wrote Kula-Ameyaw.

Not only did Mohlala violate governance, she added, “she keeps on reminding us [board members] that she is an attorney” and therefore knew what she was doing.

Kula-Ameyaw said she had served on boards with highly qualified individuals “and I have never heard someone abuse the professional qualification as the CEO does”, especially for “intimidation” purposes.

“Sometimes I feel that the CEO does not want to stay in her lane as a CEO. She wants to take over the board discussion and even causes unnecessary dialogue,” said Kula-Ameyaw.

“Personally, I have served on SOE boards, but in the current EAAB it feels like someone’s spaza shop in which the CEO has a final word on the board.”

Kula-Ameyaw claimed that Mohlala locked boardrooms and that if a board member wished to use a boardroom for EAAB business, “you cannot use the boardroom unless she grants you permission”.

She warned about “red lights towards bigger things” if the board remained indecisive and allowed itself “to be bullied or wrongly advised”.

These potential risks of governance violations would follow the current board members “post our term”, she warned.

She said that Mohlala’s conduct at the SABC showed that “anybody the CEO disagrees with, she then plays dirty to get rid of the person”.

Mohlala said she was unaware of any letter written to the minister by a board member.

Denying the bullying allegations, she said she herself had written to Biko “seeking protection from the combative and confrontational approach of two board members”.

According to another complaint written to the department by Tumisho Motsepe, an IT staffer at the EAAB, he stated that since her arrival, Mohlala had “arbitrarily removed our benefits such as long-term service and performance bonuses”.

“She went on to introduce sweeping changes which led to a staff exodus and overall frustration,” wrote Motsepe.

Motsepe recounted an incident in July, when Mohlala’s personal assistant came to his office to seek help while he was assisting a client over the phone.

When he told her that he was “in the middle of resolving another crisis” and would attend to her as soon as he was done, he did not bargain on the CEO coming to confront him personally.

“Moments later, she barged into my office and started hurling all sorts of abuses at me: ‘I am the CEO ... Whenever I call you, drop whatever you are busy with and come running straight to my office,’” Motsepe alleged.

He said Mohlala was “shouting, accusing me of ignoring her request for assistance, without due regard for the person on the other end of the line”.

In another encounter, when staffers attempted to sit on a couch in Mohlala’s office during a meeting – because all chairs were occupied – Motsepe said she bluntly told them to get up.

“To our surprise and utter humiliation, she shouted: ‘No one sits on my couch. Stand up.’

“With our tails firmly between our legs, we gingerly resolved her IT-related crisis and left.”

Mohlala denied bulling staff, including Motsepe, and said only five people had left since she took over, and their reasons had ranged from retirement to voluntary resignation.

She vowed not to be “distracted by faceless forces pursuing an agenda known only to them”.

Abram Mashego Senior journalist | City Press

+27 11 713 9001 abram.mashego@citypress.co.za Media Park, 69 Kingsway Road, Auckland Park

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