Durban - A senior Ezemvelo official is facing a disciplinary inquiry for allegedly leaking information to the media about possible changes to Ezemvelo’s provident fund administration.
George Nair, an official in Ezemvelo’s Durban coastal offices, is a member-elected trustee who has been chairing the management committee of the Ezemvelo Provident Fund, the structure of which was altered last year to fall under an umbrella fund administered by Old Mutual.
He has been instructed to appear before a disciplinary committee on Monday. Although the full list of charges has not been confirmed, it is understood that some relate to articles published in The Mercury last week in which the provident fund’s management committee raised concern about being ”totally excluded” from discussions about an investigation into the fund administered by Old Mutual.
The report was apparently commissioned by Ezemvelo’s corporate support services committee earlier this year and rival pension fund service provider Absa was appointed to conduct what has been variously described as an “investigation”, “a conduct analysis” or a “rebroke exercise”.
Concerns
Nair raised several concerns in a letter to Ezemvelo acting chief executive David Mabunda. A copy of Nair’s letter was provided to The Mercury by independent sources as Nair has consistently refused to enter into any communication with The Mercury about the matter. In his letter on behalf of the committee, he asked for a meeting with Mabunda to clarify a number of issues, including reasons why Absa was appointed to investigate a fund administered by Old Mutual.
“The management committee would appreciate a reply within seven days regarding a meeting date with the acting CEO and general manager: human resources to discuss the above. It was also felt that the concerns raised above have already leaked out to the staff in the field and that the trustees would like to address the problem as soon as possible to quell any misunderstandings in this regard.”
Mabunda wrote back advising that it was his duty as accounting officer to commission any investigation into any affairs of the organisation, including retirement funding. Mabunda said he was accountable to the board of Ezemvelo and would not explain anything further to Nair or his committee at that point.
Nair declined to discuss the disciplinary charges yesterday.
Mabunda was advised that Nair had refused to speak to The Mercury and was invited to comment on perceptions among certain staff that Nair was being victimised. He said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on a pending internal disciplinary process.
Peter Rutsch, a member of the Ezemvelo board, has stated that The Mercury articles elevated “a non-event into a major issue affecting the stability of Ezemvelo by raising non-existent problems”. He said Mabunda had been instructed by a committee of the board to review the fund and if any future adjustments were necessary this would be done in consultation with the beneficiaries.
Rutsch stated that in an umbrella fund, the management committee members were no longer trustees and their function was to deal with internal issues concerning the operation of the fund. He also suggested that Nair was “way out of line interfering in matters that do not concern him”.
THE MERCURY