Damning report into Pikitup head's actions

Pikitup boss Amanda Nair did not always act with honesty and integrity when dealing with the affairs of the City of Joburg's waste-collection entity, a report reveals.

Pikitup boss Amanda Nair did not always act with honesty and integrity when dealing with the affairs of the City of Joburg's waste-collection entity, a report reveals.

Published Jul 29, 2016

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Johannesburg - Pikitup boss Amanda Nair did not always act with honesty and integrity when dealing with the affairs of the City of Joburg’s waste-collection entity. She misled the board, misrepresented facts and irregularly appointed independent consultants, some of whom had a previous working relationship with her.

This is revealed in a damming report of an investigation into allegations of corruption against Nair that was initiated in April.

It followed a protracted strike by Pikitup employees who demanded her dismissal. They accused her of nepotism and corruption.

In April, the city appeared to cave in when it launched a probe into Nair’s alleged misconduct.

Now, a damning report by City of Joburg Group Risk and Assurance Services has found that Nair misrepresented some of the facts in her dealings with the board.

Pikitup spokesman Jacky Mashapu said Nair had been charged, but did not indicate when the disciplinary process would start.

Nair declined to comment.

The report points to the board’s questioning of how an employee who was working in Pikitup’s IT department, Donovan Denyssen - who was dismissed following a disciplinary hearing in 2013 - came to be reinstated.

A 2013 investigation into Denyssen had revealed that Pikitup incurred a loss of R33 237 as a result of Denyssen’s misconduct, after he was found to have given the entity’s cellphones to Nair and a close relative of his without following proper procedure.

It was recommended that Nair repay the money and disciplinary action be taken against Denyssen. He resigned but was dismissed in absentia after being found guilty.

The latest report, which The Star has seen, has found that Nair was not honest with the board when she indicated that the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration had ruled in Denyssen’s favour.

“This report was misleading since Mr Denyssen had withdrawn the matter from the CCMA. The MD actually argues in her letter to the board chairperson that the CCMA invalidation of the disciplinary process appears to carry no weight,” the report states.

Nair’s report was “misleading, considering that Mr Denyssen had voluntarily withdrawn the matter from the CCMA”.

The report further revealed that Nair had a previous working relationship with Denyssen at Blue IQ, a Gauteng economic development agency. “Ms Nair even wrote a reference letter for Mr Denyssen while at Blue IQ.”

It revealed that after Nair took up her position, she requested that Denyssen be appointed as an independent contractor. No recruitment process was followed.

“The specification required a relevant degree/ diploma in computer science or equivalent. Mr Denyssen's highest qualification is matric. The salary was R730 512.13 per year.”

When Denyssen was reappointed by Pikitup last year as general manager for enterprise infrastructure, Nair was part of the panel that interviewed him, according to the report.

It also found that Nair failed to carry out a resolution of the previous board not to give Aqua Transport & Plant Hire - a firm that was implicated in fraud and corruption - any further extension to its R263 million contract.

Last year, Nair gave Aqua a 15 percent extension to its contract, which amounted to R40m. This was despite the Pikitup board having written to the National Treasury in 2014, stating that there would be no extension. It was also in spite of the fact that Pikitup’s previous board decided not to give Aqua an extension, following the controversy surrounding the awarding of the contract in 2013.

A bid adjudication committee had also questioned the awarding of the contract to a company implicated in alleged wrongdoing in a forensic probe. Nair was suspended in 2014 for her alleged role and later reinstated.

“There is evidence of possible misrepresentation to the board where she is captured in the minutes” as having reported that neither Pikitup management nor the company secretariat had acopy of the previous board's decision.

According to the report, when it emerged that Nair had misrepresented the facts, she was reprimanded by the board, which had also stated that the decision of the previous board would be reserved.

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The Star

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