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Axed CEO's dismissal probed

Johannesburg - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is conducting a preliminary investigation into the dismissal of the CEO of the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB), her office confirmed on Tuesday.

"The public protector took the decision to conduct a preliminary on Monday 04 April 2011," spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi said.

The public protector had a mandate to investigate as the EAAB is a schedule 3 institution in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, she said. The EAAB is the regulator of the country's 27 000 estate agents.

The preliminary investigation should take 14 days.

According to a Moneyweb report, axed CEO Nomonde Mapetla lodged a complaint with the public protector last week, asking Madonsela to investigate her dismissal.

Mapetla, who claimed her suspension and termination were unlawful, last month lost an urgent court bid to get her job back.

The Johannesburg High Court ruled that a "matter of this nature and complexity should not be brought urgently".

Mapetla also lost her bid to have the board of the EAAB prohibited from acting as a board.

She was suspended on February 17 and her contract was terminated on February 28 with the provision that she is to receive full pay until July 15, when the contract will expire.

Mapetla took up the post of CEO six years ago.

The department of trade and industry has appointed an independent firm to compile a report on Mapetla's dismissal.

The DTI said that as a matter of course Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies would not intervene in employment-related matters.

"In this case, however, there was a concern that the CEO's dismissal was related to her commitment to dealing decisively with malpractices and fraud in the industry," the department said on March 8.

The EAAB's board said Mapetla's employment contract had been immediately terminated "due to an irreconcilable breakdown in the working relationship between the parties".

In an affidavit before the Johannesburg High Court , EAAB board chairperson Thami Bolani said Mapetla "has, through nothing more than conjecture, speculation and self promotion, attempted to build up a case which pretends that this matter is about something much bigger than the mundane early termination of a fixed-term contract".

Her contention that she was suspended for whistle-blowing was without foundation and it "had nothing to do with any fight against corruption and crime", he said.

Mapetla, in her affidavit, said her dismissal went against the terms of the Protected Disclosures Act as it amounted to an "occupational detriment".

"There appears, overwhelmingly, to be a direct linkage between certain anti-corruption or whistle-blowing activities upon which I had embarked in the period immediately preceding my suspension, which may fit the definition of 'protected disclosure'."

Some board members who were part of the decision to fire her, particularly Wendy Machanik, would likely be affected by these activities, she said.

An EAAB investigation into estate agency Wendy Machanik Properties led to the closing of the agency and criminal charges against Machanik and chief financial officer Bruce Bernstein.

They allegedly made irregular transfers totalling R28m from Wendy Machanik Property Holdings to a fictitious account.
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