Pretoria - An independent firm has been roped in to investigate the dismissal of Nomonde Mapetla, the CEO of the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB).
The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) says Mapetla's dismissal dispute with the board is currently before the courts. The board has operational independence with regards to employment matters, meaning the Minister of Trade and Industry's intervention will not be necessary.
There was a concern that Mapetla's dismissal was related to her commitment to deal decisively with malpractice and fraud.
Minister Rob Davies asked the acting Director General and Deputy Director General for Consumer and Corporate Regulation, Zodwa Ntuli, to meet with Mapetla and the board, after which she would compile a report.
The meetings were held last Wednesday, and a report was presented to Davies on Tuesday, 8 March.
"From the preliminary investigation, it is clear that there are a number of disputes of fact regarding the suspension and termination of the contract, the nature of charges and whether due process was followed. Given the large number of disputes of fact, it was recommended that an independent firm be instructed to conduct a full investigation into this matter and report within two weeks," said dti spokesperson Sidwell Medupe.
Mapetla's employment contract was terminated last week. This follows a forensic audit into Wendy Machanik Properties, which was probed for funds misappropriation.
The matter between the EAAB and Mapetla was postponed yesterday in the South Gauteng High Court after the judge did not receive the case file. The matter is due to be heard today.
"Even though this matter is currently before the courts, and the minister will abide by the decision of the court, it is necessary for the department to establish that the board acted in a fit and proper manner. We wish to state categorically that both the CEO and the board worked together in dealing with fraud and corruption in the industry. There is no disagreement between the parties on this matter," said Medupi.
