Staff Reporter
A disciplinary hearing into allegations of governance and financial misconduct against the suspended chief executive of the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA), Kedibone Madiehe, started on Monday, the finance ministry said.
The hearing follows “comprehensive forensic investigations conducted by three independent firms” into alleged governance irregularities and financial misconduct at the agency.
Madiehe has been furnished with the findings and the charges that will form the basis of the proceedings, the ministry said.
It added that it would not publish the terms of reference or full investigative reports at this stage, citing the need to protect the legal integrity of the process and avoid prejudicing the executive’s rights.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana placed Madiehe on precautionary suspension on 22 August over allegations of “serious misconduct concerning high-value procurement transactions”.
The suspension, it said at the time, was not a finding of guilt but was intended to allow investigations to proceed without disrupting the agency’s operations.
Detailed forensic investigations, it said at the same time, were being conducted into contracts linked to the allegations, including the GPAA head office lease, an “African Mobility” bus lease, Jicho Consulting contracts and an LCS biometric system lease.
Job Stadi Mngomezulu was seconded to serve as acting chief executive from August.
The GPAA administers pension benefits and related schemes on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), which is the largest pension fund in Africa.
The agency administers the pension affairs of about 1.7 million government employees and pensioners.
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