Dishonest and misguided: PPRA board hits back at suspended boss

The Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) board has denied meddling in the entity’s tender processes, dismissing suspended CEO Mamodupi Mohla-Mulaudzi’s legal challenge as misguided and riddled with falsehoods.

In his replying affidavit, board chairperson Steven Ngubeni also argues that the matter belonged in the labour court and not in the high court.

He also warned that the property practitioners’ watchdog would be left dysfunctional if the court granted the urgent application for the board to be declared illegally constituted.

“…the effect of a declaration of invalidity in respect of the appointment of the Board will be that the PPRA, as the statutory body tasked with the important administration of the Property Practitioners Act, will operate without a rudder until such time that the (human settlement minister [Mmamoloko “Nkhensani” Kubayi] re-runs and completes a second appointment process,” warned Ngubeni.

He said the consequences of this order would be dire as the PPRA will not have a board, and will therefore be unable to make important executive and management-style decisions and halt progress.

 “…the PPRA cannot function without a Board, and if the Court agrees with the applicant that the Board is unlawfully appointed, it will leave the PPRA without any Board to monitor and supervise its operations. As a result, it will be a defunct state-owned entity,” he states.

The Johannesburg high court is expected to hear arguments this week in an urgent application brought by the entity’s boss Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi, who is challenging her suspension and legality of the board.

She was placed on precautionary suspension over a week ago on allegations of irregularities relating to pension fund contributions and appointment of six employees.

But Mohlala-Mulaudzi has said these allegations had been dealt with before and were now being recycled as the basis for her suspension, by a board that was not legally constituted.

Her argument is that the current board is illegitimate because it was appointed by Human Settlements Minister Mamoloko Kubayi  on 26 November 2021 under the old Estate Agency Affairs Act.

According to Mohlala-Mulaudzi, Kubayi appointed the new board before the new Property Practitioners Act came into effect, pointing out that the minister had no power to appoint a new board.

But Ngubeni has argued in his affidavit that Mohlala-Mulaudzi’s mistake was that she presupposes that her suspension was by the Board and for the Board.

“This is incorrect. Her suspension is by the PPRA, where the Board was the committee that considered and acted on behalf of the company in suspending her,” he said.

Mohlala-Mulaudzi has said in her founding affidavit that Ngubeni had sought to interfere in tender processes and insisted an appointment of a service provider.

She told The Citizen last week that her suspension was also part of shenanigans to derail her investigations into racism in the sector.