Kaya FM senior presenters Phemelo Motene, Gugulethu Mfuphi and Sizwe Dhlomo have been fingered by former Kaya FM managing director Sibongile Mtyali as being central to her dismissal from the station.
This comes after Mtyali filed an urgent application at the Johannesburg Labour Court this week in which she wants an order to force the station and its board chairperson, Sizwe Mncwango, to reinstate her.
In the court papers, we have seen, Mtyali said the station had unlawfully terminated her contract after receiving separate complaints from Dhlomo, Motene, Mfuphi and station’s programmes manager Meikanyo Morotoba.
Motene, the former Generations actress, hosts Point of View, and Mfuphi, a business anchor at CNBC Africa presents Kaya Biz, while Dhlomo hosts Kaya Drive at the Johannesburg-based station.
Mtyali, who was summarily dismissed from Kaya FM last month, said she was head-hunted by the board from the SABC on June 21 last year to turn the station’s fortunes around and one of her mandates was to eradicate favouritism, boost staff morale, grow sales, implement a new line up, do a strategy review, brand positioning and draft budgets.
Consequentially, she states that she worked tirelessly, and Mncwango stated in writing he was impressed with her performance. However, she said, she was surprised when she received a letter form the board in July this year, three months into her performance period, accusing her of poor performance.
She said the allegations of poor performance were first presented to her in a letter sent to her on September 27, 2022, when she was told a grievance had been lodged by Dhlomo, Morotoba, Motene and Mfuphi.
“Mr Dhlomo had accused me of treating another presenter, Ms Mpho Maboi, with favouritism because she was allowed to arrive at work at a time that was contractually one hour later than some other presenters,” read the papers.
Mtyali said this was not favouritism but a condition to recruit Maboi after exercising her discretion as the managing director. “I thought it ironic that in June 2022, I appeared before the board, and I was accused of giving Mr Dhlomo more favourable terms on his contract when I increased his financial benefits by 13% more than his peers.
“I stood by that decision too because I had exercised my discretion to achieve my stated objective for the success of Kaya FM. I was acting deliberately and in the interest of Kaya FM in both decisions,” read the papers.
She said Motene and Mfuphi, whom she described as service providers, complained of her unavailability to meet with them to discuss issues they had with their contracts.
Their complaints, she said, surprised her because they reported directly to Morotoba, while the board also alleged that 13 staff members had complained about her leadership style. But their complaints and identity, she said, were not disclosed to her and she was not even afforded an opportunity to challenge them.
Mtyali also said the board claimed the trust relationship between them had broken down, yet it did not provide concrete evidence of the many allegations levelled against her.
She said she also discovered that she was being accused of unlawfully employing Liketso Mashigo, the human resources business partner in April, but it was the same board that renewed her (Mashigo) contract on November 28.
Mtyali said she had comprehensively responded to the letter of the board on October 13 after which the board asked her to verbally state her version of events on October 20.
She said when the board convened to enquire about the issues, she asked Mncwango if the meeting constituted a disciplinary hearing. Mtyali said Mncwango told her it was a forum for her to take them through her written response.
“Instead of all the objective that was available, Mr Mncwango relied on unfounded statements which I was not given a chance to be heard on in front of the board or any disciplinary or other forum allowed by Kaya FM policy or at law,” read the papers.
She wants the court to review and set aside her dismissal as unlawful termination of contract.
“That the dismissal of the applicant by the first and second respondents be declared invalid, unlawful and set aside.
“As such, I seek reinstatement on an urgent basis and in the circumstances, it has become necessary for me to bring this application to set aside my unlawful dismissal,” read the papers.
Motene and Dhlomo declined to comment while Mfuphi said she would seek counsel from the station before commenting on the matter. She had, however, still not offered any comment at the time of going to print. Mtyali also declined to comment, saying the matter is sub judice.
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