The board of the Central Energy Fund (CEF) says the Auditor-General’s (AG’s) final management report relating to the appointment of CEF executives confirms that the appointment processes were conducted lawfully and in accordance with internal recruitment policies.
The CEF recently appointed group CEO Dr Ishmael Poolo, COO Dr Tshepo Mokoka and group executive for legal affairs Brenda Moagi.
The AG report follows a news article published in the Sunday Times on October 10 last year, alleging that senior CEF executives were appointed without due process. In turn, this resulted from a leaked inconclusive management report by the AG’s office.
According to an AG letter addressed to the CEF, dated December 24, 2021, it needed more documents and interviews to garner more information, as well as to verify information.
The CEF appointed an independent law firm Mbada Labour Relations to investigate and advise the CEF board on whether there are merits to these allegations, but the firm found the allegations to be baseless and no disciplinary action was instituted.
The fund states that a “smear campaign” of this nature could be a result of disgruntled former employees, whose contracts were terminated as a result of alleged corruption, theft, abuse of power, non-performance or malfeasance.