Mail & Guardian reports that Land Reform Minister Thoko Didiza has appointed a new chief executive at the troubled Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) as part of her attempt to reform the institution.

ITB controls nearly three million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal. Advocate Vela Mngwengwe, an official of the department who had previously acted as the ministry’s appointee to the ITB, began work at the board’s Pietermaritzburg head office on 1 August. Mngwengwe’s appointment is aimed at bringing some level of stability to the ITB, which has received a series of unfavorable audit opinions from the auditor general and is currently under fire in parliament over poor corporate governance. It will also resolve the embarrassing situation in which the ITB currently has two acting chief executives. Last year, ITB chairperson Jerome Ngwenya placed the chief executive, Lucas Mkhwanazi, on special leave and replaced him with human resources executive Lucky Gabela. But the CCMA ordered that Mkhwanazi be reinstated. After the expiry of the term of office of the board, Didiza appointed a number of acting board members to assist in stabilising the entity, and seconded officials from the department to try to sort out its finances. A source close to the matter said the appointment of Mngwengwe would be followed by that of a new chief financial officer to oversee attempts to bring the ITB’s spending in line with its mandate and to ensure compliance with the Public Finance Management Act.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Paddy Harper at Mail & Guardian (paywall access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page