The legal representatives of Zakhele Lebelo, the suspended CEO of the Free State Development Commission (FDC) are in a mission to critique how Lebelo signed for a land deal while he was on suspension. The outcome may prove that the FDC board derelected on its duty.
Lebelo, a charted accountant, became the company’s strength in 2020 after moving the organisation from a loss-making entity into an economy powerhouse.
Sources inside the FDC say Lebelo was asked to “continue working but not return to the office because things were simply falling apart without him”.
Sources reveal that there was such incompetence in the thrust of the organisation. “He knew that he was in a political space and as the highest executive he would be sacrificed by one faction for another. That is the style of State Owned Entities, it comes with the territory,” a source said.
According to the source documents were sent to Lebelo’s home for signing and he even chaired some online operational meetings even when he was said to be suspended because there was no simply no other way.
One of the contentious issues is that Lebelo signed for the R39m sale of a 5.8ha of land belonging to the organisation when he was still on suspension and that he could not have been able to do that without the authorisation from board members.
Lebelo’s attorneys are set to question the FDC on how Lebelo had access to his work email, company documents and virtual meeting invites if he was really on suspension, and the emotional and psychological distress suffered by Lebelo because he was made to work but publicly hailed as being “on suspension”.
Upon the purchase of the 5.8ha land, the client, Nthoese Development, who had originally desired to construct a mall, learned that the land was occupied by illegal tenants, which took over 6 months to vacate and deconstruct, causing Ntoese to lose his investor, Investec bank.
Lebelo’s attorneys are set to argue that Nthoese’s loss is because of the illegal construction that was on the land and that the loss was no fault of Lebelo, his employer FDC or the client Nthoese Development.
While the FDC is an entity of the Free State provincial government under the department of economic, small business development, tourism and environmental affairs (Destea) with technical mandate to promote and develop small to medium sized enterprises, it now faces several complaints to the Public Protector.
Nthoese Development and Lebelo declined to comment on the story stating that the matter was still subjudice.
University of South Africa’s Professor Boitumelo Senokoane said the matter would not be that cut and dried.
“This matter is a test case for private-public sector arguments. While it is law that if a client and organisation agree to the price of a property, and the client pays in full then the client has the rights to access. Those rights are not limited to the client. If the CEO is charged for the land sale then the board and the CFO must be equally charged. No land deal of this amount would’ve escaped the board’s knowledge. If the board was missing in action then they would need to be declared delinquent directors, that’s the only way to protect our state organs”.
Mojalefa Mphapang, Destea spokesperson said MEC Moses Makume advised the FDC to reconsider litigation and renegotiate better terms with the land buyer.
Speaking to The Star, Property Investment specialist Chris Tippet described this as investment suicide. “No property investor will take their initiatives and millions to the Free State after this. Investors want to know that their investments are safe. Not that the place they invest in would litigate against them.”
FDC did not respond to questions at the time of going to print
This is a developing story.
The Star