Public Protector vs IDC Human Capital

A whistleblower’s damning allegations against theIndustrial Development Corporationpaint a picture of an organisation characterised by fear, retribution, bullying and disregard for employee rights. In a letter toIDCchief executive Mmakgoshi Lekhethe last month, Tebogo Vincent Modika, suspended for transgressing the IDC’s employment policies, accuses the company of abusing its powers and policies including the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, Public Finance Management Act and the Anti-Workplace Harassment Policy. “I find it apposite and much prudent to highlight the key and relevant provision of the Companies Act, which you are advised to consider in determining my escalation to you – Section 77(3) of the Companies Act, which imposes personal liability on directors for loss, damages or costs sustained by the company due to breaches of fiduciary duties, reckless trading, fraud or ultra vires act,” read the letter.

Modika, who until his suspension was the company’s senior employee relations specialist, further accuses his boss, the IDC’s head of talent management and organisational effectiveness and law firm Werksman Attorneys, of unethical conduct in managing issues that led to his suspension. However, Modika, who is litigating against his employer, has repeatedly failed to overturn his suspension in both the CCMA and labour court. He has since appealed to the Constitutional Court for urgent intervention while running a parallel matter with the Public Protector.

The question at the centre of the battle is whether Modika’s allegations are an accurate reflection of the IDC’s employee relations/work culture. Cynics and employees who spoke to theMail & Guardianpoint to a trust deficit between staff and the organisation’s human capital division, which is one reason for the increase in number of disaffected employees running to a chapter 9 institution for arbitration of labour disputes. An IDC employee, who is also a shop steward in the Public Servants Association (PSA), the largest union in the organisation, told theM&Gthat IDC employees were sceptical of their employer to deal fairly with labour disputes.

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Whether this scepticism is borne out of experience or perception is a different matter altogether. But the fact that the Public Protector has taken a keen interest in resolving some of these disputes is concerning. The fact that Modika’s boss who suspended him and is conflicted in the matter allegedly contracted a law firm to oversee a disciplinary process against him raises questions of impartiality.

“While true that the courts have ruled against him in some of his matters, it’s concerning that his boss who is the accused in his matters is managing these processes,” said the shop steward. TheM&Gunderstands that the IDC has spent over R54 million in the last three years on various law firms just on ER matters alone.

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