The Labour Court has removed the administrator of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu), Thulisile Mashanda, ending a tumultuous near two-year stay that saw allegations of impropriety levelled against her.
The court on Thursday ordered Mashanda to “take all steps necessary to ensure that management and control of the affairs of Ceppwawu are handed over in full to the interim administrator… within 10 court days from the date of this order”.
The court-appointed business rescue specialist Sipho Sono as the interim administrator.
Mashanda, an accounting and auditing consultant, was appointed by the court in June 2020, after years of contraventions of regulations governing the functioning of trade unions.
At the heart of the court’s decision was the union’s failure to provide audited financial statements for the financial years ending 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Sunday World last year reported that the union’s top brass had approached the court to remove Mashanda, accusing her of mismanaging the union’s funds. This paper had also separately reported on an apparent conflict of interest involving Mashanda after she appointed a company in which she is an active director to provide services to the union.
Sunday World has seen two proof of payment notifications dated August 2020 to professional services firm Kreston that total nearly half a million rand.
According to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission records, Mashanda became a director of Kreston in 2019.
Confronted with the conflict of interest allegations, Mashanda said: “My full professional background was disclosed |prior to my appointment as administrator.”
Reacting to the court judgment, Mashanda said the judgment was not against her and that she had already concluded most of the work she was mandated to do, including producing the annual financial statements.
“I have exposed monies taken out from Ceppwawu Investments that were not used for the benefits of members… and when I did it, I knew the risk and I am happy to deal with the consequences. All the reports are out. Mr Sono will not have issues as I have unveiled the irregularities to relevant structures,” she said.
In January, Sunday World reported on the explosive contents of Mashanda’s report on the finances of the union and its investment arm, Ceppwawu Investments.
The report alleged that the union’s elected officials mismanaged workers’ funds entrusted to them, leaving workers R8-billion poorer in just two years.
According to the audited financial statements of Ceppwawu Investments, the entity’s assets under management plunged from R10.1-billion in 2015 to R1.7-billion in 2019, during which period the union’s leaders were allegedly spending money like drunken sailors.
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