Axed Prasa CEO Zolani Matthews challenges his dismissal in court

Ousted Prasa CEO Zolani Matthews is taking the entity to the labour court in an attempt to have his dismissal overturned.

Matthews filed court papers this week in which he seeks immediate reinstatement as CEO of Prasa and also asks the court to interdict the board from taking any action relating to termination of employment, including releasing any media statement.

He also wants the court to stop the board from hiring another CEO to fill his position.

In the more than 300-page bundle of court papers, Matthews challenges the board’s reasons and powers for terminating his employment.

Matthews was suspended and subsequently fired as Prasa CEO earlier this month after the board accused him of failing to disclose his dual citizenship. Matthews holds British and SA citizenship.

TimesLIVE reported previously that the Prasa board told Matthews he failed to secure clearance from the State Security Agency (SSA).

In his court bid Matthews argues security clearance was not a prerequisite for the job and that he had already lodged an appeal with President Cyril Ramaphosa challenging the SSA decision to not grant him “top secret” clearance.

He argues he does not require “top secret” security clearance for the position and that it was the type of clearance SSA refused to grant him.

“In my application to the SSA I did not mention any particular level of clearance. That I needed ‘top secret’ security clearance must therefore have been an assumption on the SSA’s side. The board’s reliance on the issue of ‘top secret’ security clearance is opportunistic and unfortunate,” he says.

Matthews argues that his dual citizenship was not a secret as he had disclosed it in government positions he had previously held and also during an interview with the SSA for the Prasa CEO post. He says he told the SSA official he was willing to relinquish his British citizenship once he was confirmed as permanent Prasa CEO.

“I further informed her [SSA interviewer] that I would not renounce the citizenship during my probation period as that renunciation had certain personal reasons attached to it, namely that it was acquired in 1966 during the exile period and that my son lives and studies in England,” he says in the court papers.

According to Matthews, he was under no obligation to disclose his dual citizenship as there was no requirement in the advertisement for the CEO position that the incumbent should be in possession of SA citizenship only and that “neither was there any suggestion that having dual citizenship could be an issue”.

“I applied for the position on or about December 2020/January 2021. I was not aware, nor was I informed, that disclosure of dual citizenship was a requirement. I was interviewed on January 30 2021. No question remotely related to my dual citizenship or dual citizenship in general was asked, nor was any indication given that dual citizenship in general might be an issue or required to be disclosed,” he argues.

TimesLIVE reported the board had placed Matthews on suspension after earlier failing in its attempt to axe him for non-performance.

Matthews, who has been at the helm of the entity since March, argues in the court papers that he could not be dismissed for non-performance. Given the challenges at Prasa it could not have been reasonably expected those challenges could be resolved in a matter of months. However, he says, “I was making considerable strides and was positive my performance reflected this. It should be noted that a score of three reflects a fully competent performance”.

He argues that the board does not have the power to terminate his employment and that such powers only reside with transport minister Fikile Mbalula.

This, he says, is confirmed by Prasa’s internal documents, including paragraph 3.1(c)(iv) of the board’s charter, which he says makes it clear the board recommends to the minister “the principal role of the board is to ensure compliance and performance through recommending the appointment of the CEO and evaluating his or her performance”.

Matthews says as a national government business enterprise, as listed in the Public Finance Management Act, Prasa is under the control of the national executive, which means the power to terminate the CEO’s employment lies with the minister.

“As can be seen from the factual background set out above, both the letters of my suspension and purported termination of employment were issued by the board, not the minister. The exercise of a power the board does not have is unlawful,” he says.

TimesLIVE