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City Press reports that on Thursday the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) announced that director-general Kgathatso Tlhakudi was being placed on precautionary suspension pending a disciplinary process.
He is accused of overruling panel recommendations in the appointment of a security manager in the department, instead installing a candidate of his choice. But, it is said that DPE Minister Pravin Gordhan’s tendency to micromanage, and a dispute over the valuation of SAA prior to its partial sale to a private consortium, are among the reasons for the fallout between the two men who are responsible for SA’s bleeding state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The relationship between Tlhakudi and Gordhan has been described as being “rocky”, and includes claims that Gordhan liaised directly with executives, “which rendered the department and the boards ineffective”. Sources close to the process said Tlhakudi had for a long time felt undermined by Gordhan, who has previously been accused of being too involved in the day-to-day running of SA’s parastatals. “He (Tlhakudi) has been working with one hand behind his back. Every time he was away, major decisions, such as the SAA one, were taken,” said a source. Tlhakudi’s suspension comes at a time when strategic SOEs such as Transnet and Eskom are in the middle of a deep crisis, and has raised eyebrows in government over stability in the DPE and its capacity to play a role in directing the country’s economic recovery.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Setumo Stone at City Press (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page