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- Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi has denied allegations against her that led to her suspension as CEO of the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority.
- She told Parliament that the allegations were trumped up by individuals who wanted to silence her efforts to blow the whistle on them.
- During an interview to get on to the SABC board, she said she had what it took to continue the broadcaster's turnaround.
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Suspended property watchdog boss Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi told Parliament on Tuesday that she is facing a smear campaign brought on by people she blew the whistle on at the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA).
Mohlala-Mulaudzi was the first candidate to be interviewed by a Parliamentary subcommittee formed to interview SABC board member candidates. The subcommittee must interview a shortlist of 37 candidates to put forward 12 names in the coming weeks to constitute a new board by mid-October.
She said allegations against her were being used in a bid to frustrate her efforts to return to the public service broadcaster's board. She further said her suspension as CEO of the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) was motivated by colleagues who had their own indiscretions to hide.
Mohlala-Mulaudzi, who is already a member of the outgoing current board, has faced allegations of impropriety at the PPRA and was suspended. Her suspension is currently before the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
The nongovernmental organisation Public Interest South Africa wrote to the chair of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications, Boyce Maneli, asking that Mohlala-Mulaudzi recuse herself from the list of shortlisted candidates or be removed.
READ | Suspended property regulator boss, axed head of news crack SABC board shortlist
But Mohlala-Mulaudzi told the subcommittee that she wished to remain at the board of the public broadcaster because she believed she had more to contribute to the entity as it continued its path of efficiency and profitability.
'Woman of integrity'
"I am a woman of integrity, and I am a woman who has had a clean stint in the public service for over 20 years. I have a passion for public service, and I want to serve my country. I am a qualified black female and I have a lot to contribute to the enhancement of my country," said Mohlala-Mulaudzi.
DA MP Diane Kohler-Barnard asked Mohlala-Mulaudzi about the report from a forensic investigation which suggested that she failed to ensure that its pension fund contributions were collected and paid to the fund.
"Much of the public broadcaster is about reputation and public trust. Obviously, one is innocent until proven guilty, but when it comes to reputation and public trust, the allegations in the report are quite something," said Kohler-Barnard.
Mohlala-Mulaudzi said she was never granted an opportunity to see the forensic report before PPRA released it to Parliament and the public and large. She said this was a mark of flagrant unfairness against her.
"I as the person mentioned have not been given that report. It is highly irregular that a report can be completed put into the public and the subject of that report has not been granted an opportunity to see it," Mohlala-Mulaudzi said.
READ | R3.2 billion failed to bail out SABC, oversight committee hears
She said she would be writing to the South African Human Rights Commission and the Gender Commission as other members of management at the PPRA had allegations against them at their current and former positions but were not placed on suspension or charged.
She was alluding to PPRA chair Steven Ngubeni's precautionary suspension as CEO of the Gauteng Gambling Board in 2021. Ngubeni was placed on suspension by the gambling board's administrator, Advocate Fana Nalane. Ngubeni was also axed from the National Youth Development Agency in 2013.
"I am a whistleblower in the sense that even the [PPRA] chair saw that as a whistleblower, I would not have a chance of a fair hearing. They said my hearing should be conducted at the CCMA so that I have an objective chair presiding over my matter so that I have a fair hearing," Mohlala-Mulaudzi said.
ANC MP Hlebani Mthembu said she was impressed by her introduction and asked her why she wanted to be part of the broadcaster's board again. Mohlala said she wanted to help the SABC continue to make inroads in procuring quality content to keep it competitive.
"I want to go back to the SABC board because I believe that I have a lot to contribute. You would understand that we came in in 2019 and that was less than the five-year period that is usually provided to a board. The SABC needs to deal with the issue of being self-sustaining," she said.
She said her priorities in the incoming board would include maximising radio profitability, continuing the leadership stability that the outgoing board provided, and working to get the SABC from a qualified audit opinion to an unqualified audit.
MPs were also told that SABC board members had played no role in the axing of the broadcaster's head of news, Phathiswa Magopeni, or the retrenchment of 621 staff last year.
Magopeni was axed earlier this year, following the airing of an interdicted episode of the investigative journalist television show, Special Assignment. She has challenged her dismissal at the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration.
SABC board member David Maimela - who is one of the five shortlisted candidates - also addressed the subcommittee on Tuesday morning.
Kohler-Barnard asked Maimela what role the board played in the firing of Magopeni. She also asked if Maimela believed that the retrenchment of staff only to advertise several hundred freelance jobs months later showed the broadcaster had lost vital expertise.
Maimela said while the outgoing board was updated on developments with the retrenchments and Magopeni, these were largely left in the hands of the National Treasury, which provided a R3.2 billion bailout under the condition that the SABC get to grips with its wage bill.
"I want to repeat this, I have not been involved and the board, when the matter came to us, it only served as information sharing. By the way, there was a story on the non-renewal of [sports broadcaster] Robert Marawa, who was running a very successful show.
"Even with that, when there was a public outcry, we all had to understand, as the board, that it's not the domain of the board. We raised it at the board level and it was a debate. Management gave their own financial and managerial reasons. It didn't feel good, but there was nothing we could do," Maimela said.
Between 2019 and 2020, Maimela served as chief of staff at
the office of the MEC for Health in the Gauteng provincial government. His
contract was terminated with the departure of then-Gauteng Health MEC Bandile
Masuku after a Special Investigating Unit probe found corruption in
the department's personal protective equipment contracts.
Asked about his role in the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health during the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) tender scandal, Maimela said his work was a vital part of unearthing the corruption. Maimela is currently the director for executive support in the office of the vice-chancellor and principal at the University of South Africa.
* This article was amended at 18:27 on Tuesday 12 September to include comment from David Maimela.
