JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – The Pikitup committee and new board of directors invited the media to the Pikitup Head Office in Braamfontein, on Tuesday February 10, to announce that suspended MD Amanda Nair has been cleared of all allegations and would resume duty on Thursday February 12.
Ms Nair was suspended and formerly charged, in summary, on matters relating to supply chain management and the Municipal Finance Management Act.
She was placed on suspension for nearly a year on full pay last February, after Pikitup’s then board of directors decided to take disciplinary action against Nair for her alleged role in awarding a tender worth R263 million to a company that was implicated in a tender fraud.
During the press conference, Matshidiso Mfikoe, Member of the Mayoral Committee, said: “The bidding process for the tender was initiated prior to the appointment of Ms Nair as managing director of Pikitup, and was processed following the normal supply chain management procedures.”
The then board, in consultation with the council, took a view that it would best serve the interests of all stakeholders to allow an independent process to determine whether Nair had in any way contravened the Municipal Finance Management Act supply chain management regulations. The board also agreed to abide by the outcome of the process, she explained.
Mfikoe said the finding “coincidentally coincided” with the appointment of a new board, which met on Monday, and agreed unanimously to implement the recommendation of the presiding officer.
Nair will resume her duties and will do so with the full support of the city and the board, Mfikoe said.
The staff would be briefed about Nair’s return, and would be asked to cooperate with her, because it is acknowledged there could be tension as some of the staff testified against her.
