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Golding ruling vindicates suspension - HCI

Cape Town – Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) [JSE:HCI] said on Monday that the decision by the Labour Court in Cape Town to deny its e.tv CEO Marcel Golding from making HCI reverse his suspension and disciplinary hearing vindicated their actions.

The HCI share price was down 1.23% down to R148.15 at 14:42.

HCI said in a Sens statement that the company's position that Golding face disciplinary proceedings regarding his alleged gross misconduct was vindicated and those disciplinary proceedings will continue from Monday to Thursday.

Earlier on Monday, HCI announced the resignation with immediate effect of Barbara Hogan, director of HCI and member of the audit committee.

HCI expressed surprise at the “hostile manner” in which the former minister of Public Enterprise's resignation was "couched and publicly distributed".

“We thank Barbara for her services to HCI and assure the public that, perhaps other than Marcel [Golding] himself, no other board members of HCI see this matter similarly,” the Sens announcement read.

HCI owns 63% of shares in Sabido and e.tv. See infographic.

- See full judgment delivered on Monday
-e.tv boss court application fails - as it happened

On Monday, Golding failed to halt his disciplinary hearing and suspension as director of HCI Managerial Services, on the grounds that it was unlawful. In his role as director, he oversees the role of CEO at Sabido and e.tv.

Golding, who is also the chairperson of HCI, was suspended after he bought R24m worth of Ellies shares on behalf of Sabido in March.

He only informed Sabido of the purchase in August, on the eve of their board meeting, and the board did not support the purchase. “It is that share purchase without authorisation that led to the pending disciplinary hearing that lies at the heart of this application,” said Cape Town Labour Judge Anton Steenkamp.

Political motives questioned

Golding said he was being ousted from HCI and e.tv because Yunis Shaik, an executive director at HCI, was trying to shift editorial policy to favour the ANC government and President Jacob Zuma.

His example was when Shaik wanted e.tv to lead a story to positively portray Zuma, four days after Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found that Zuma benefited from the Nkandla upgrades and said that he should pay back a portion of the money.

Shaik wrote this email to Golding:



Steenkamp said Golding’s claims on this were not without merit. “The allegations by Golding about interference in the editorial independence of e.tv are serious and, on the face of it, not without substance,” he said in his judgment.

“It is indeed startling and harks back to the tragic time in our history when ministers of the apartheid regime sometimes dictated the contents of news broadcasts on the SABC, that a director of HCI should suggest to the directors of e.tv what they should carry as a lead story on the evening news at the behest of a cabinet minister,” he said.

However, he said the charges forming the basis of the disciplinary hearing that Golding wanted to interdict had no bearing on editorial content.

HCI denied this allegation. "Insofar as Mr Golding has made certain outrageous allegations relating to political interference in respect of the media, such allegations are denied by the company," it said. "The company re-affirms its commitment to protect its interests and of its shareholders, to promote an independent media free of political or government interference, and to a lawful and fair disciplinary enquiry."

AGM and disciplinary hearing conflict

But Golding said his disciplinary hearing would be held at the same time as the HCI AGM on Thursday in Cape Town, meaning he could be unseated as chairperson. The hearing, closed to the media, started on Monday and would run until Thursday, HCI confirmed to Fin24.

Golding also claimed that the issue should be dealt with by Sabido, which Johann Rupert’s Remgro has a 31.9% stake in, but Steenkamp indicated that Golding’s payslip showed he earned a gross salary of R480 239 per month, paid by HCI, and so it was reasonable that they were his primary employer and that they were in their legal rights to hold a disciplinary hearing and suspend him until a verdict was given.

Steenkamp said that Golding was “a director of HCI Managerial Services, the entity that pays his considerable salary”.

HCI’s lawyer from ENS Cape Town Koos Pretorius, who was counsel against Golding in the labour court matter, would be the chairperson of the hearing. The charges include dereliction of duty, gross negligence, dishonesty, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of the ethics policy.

Steenkamp said that should Golding be able to show that Pretorius could be bias, “he can ask for the recusal of the chairperson at the beginning of those proceedings”.

HCI said it saw no benefit in conducting this process through the press. "As soon as circumstances permit, a further announcement will be issued by the company," it said.


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