MORE allegations of maladministration and corruption have surfaced at the Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB) after embattled newly appointed CEO Karabo Mbele culled about 11 employees since her appointment in what the workers describe as a “bloodbath”.
The employees, who preferred not to be named, said Mbele, who has been acting CEO from January and was appointed permanently recently, was on a mission to get rid of all the “clean” GGB officials.
They said she was favoured by Gauteng Economic Development MEC Tasmeen Motara who oversees the entity, and was also accused of lying under oath regarding her appointment.
The Sunday Independent previously reported that some of the employees, in a joint letter written to Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, said before Mbele’s appointment, she had been embroiled in a cloud of alleged corrupt activities, including that she and her associates had squandered more than R15 million through unregistered and unapproved non-profit organisations.
The funds were meant for charity.
Mbhele has not responded, and, Lesufi’s office did not respond to questions sent by The Sunday Independent last month.
Now the employees are accusing Motara of favouritism and lying under oath when she said in an affidavit that the department would not interfere with a report by Nexus Forensic Services, commissioned by the department,
The employees said the affidavit was dated June 8, 2023 but the letter from Nexus reflects that the investigation was suspended under email on March 2, as referenced in the letter from Nexus dated March 3, 2023.
“The MEC, some 3 months later, still indicates that there will be no interference or influence, but the Nexus investigation was suspended! The MEC has lied under oath and cannot state that she is unaware of such status updates prior to deposing this affidavit,” they said.
The Sunday Independent can reveal that the Nexus investigation into the vanished R15m was terminated under Motara’s watch.
The employees also allege that the MEC removed acting CEO Thiran Marimuthu after acting for six months while Mbele acted for more than six months.
The DA in Gauteng has also entered the fray, saying standard procedures were not being followed and there was a lack of proper oversight at the GGB.
Its provincial spokesperson, MEC Patrick Atkinson, said: “What is even of greater concern have been reports of financial maladministration and malpractice at the GGB.
“It has been well reported in the press that the CEO, Karabo Mbele, does not have the correct qualifications for her position and was foisted upon the board by MEC Motara. Mbele has allegedly been implicated in a forensic investigation conducted by the organisation SkX, which states, among other things, that she is involved in ‘maladministration, financial misconduct, and governance breakdown in the disbursement of funds allocated to the GGB Socio-Economic Development Department’.
“It is also evident that the CEO has been suspending and removing some of the longer-term senior employees of the board.”
Responding to questions from the Sunday Independent on Friday, Motara said the current CEO had not been implicated in wrongdoing. She denied that she had lied under oath.
On whether she was not worried about the high number of suspended senior officials, she said: “There have been a number of allegations and preliminary investigations that alluded to transgressions by employees. I would be worried if transgressions are ignored and transgressors are left not to account.”
She further said that one of the employees who had been suspended had taken the matter of his suspension to court and failed. However, she added that the affected employees had every right to seek recourse.
Asked about Nexus, she said it had not even begun its investigation.
“In fact, Nexus had stated that they were unable to access any documentation or information in order to conduct the investigation except the Sekela Report.
“Where there is suspension, there is no vacancy and (it) does not fall under the same dispensation as for a post which is vacant. The post of CEO was vacant as a result of the previous CEO vacating the post.
“The person acting previously did so for more than 12 months, which is irregular. The post had to be filled within 6 to 12 months and since it had not been, there should have been a different official placed to act after the first 12 months lapsed,” Motara said.