Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) CEO and SABC board deputy chairwoman Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi has started 2020 in a fighting mood, and her target is Dr Eugenia Kula- Ameyaw.
Mohlala-Mulaudzi this month launched a R1.5-million defamation lawsuit against Kula- Ameyaw, an EAAB board member and chairwoman of the body’s transformation committee, at the Johannesburg High Court.
Kula-Ameyaw is also a wellknown author and businesswoman. In her papers, seen by Sunday World, Mohlala-Mulaudzi claims Kula-Ameyaw defamed her when she reported her to Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisuslu.
According to the summons, Mohlala-Mulaudzi said Kula- Ameyaw had complained to Sisulu about her conduct as EAAB CEO and alleged that she had violated corporate governance rules in order to get her fired from the entity.
So hell-bent was Kula-Ameyaw to see the back of her, that she also wrote another letter to Sisulu’s adviser, advocate Menzi Simelane, pushing for her removal as chief executive of the EAAB, according to Mohlala-Mulaudzi.
Kula-Ameyaw first declined to respond to questions sent to her by Sunday World but later
changed her mind.
She confirmed knowledge of the summons but said she was shocked that they were only filed in January 2020.
“Yes I will defend the matter rigorously so. I will save my breath from now on for that process not a media court or judges,” she said.
Other allegations Kula-Ameyaw is accused of having made against Mohlala-Mulaudzi include the claim that she bulldozed the board into making resolutions that suited her agenda, and thereby making her untouchable and unaccountable to the board.
Mohlala-Mulaudzi, in her summons, labelled the claims wrongful, malicious and defamatory, with injurious intent meant to portray her as having “violated procurement procedure, [and that she] is a drama queen, misrepresents facts, is hostile towards her female colleagues, continuously disrespects the board, and that she makes statements which get cracked as resolutions… when they are not actual board resolutions”.
Mohlala-Mulaudzi further said that in the two letters, Kula-Ameyaw said she had forcefully advised the board about grievances against her, and that she intimidated board members by always reminding them that she is an attorney and therefore knows what she is doing.
She said these statements were also understood to mean that she was using her qualifications for intimidation purposes, and that she did not want to stay in her lane as CEO.
“The defendant [Kula-Ameyaw] indicated that currently the EAAB feels like someone’s spaza shop in which the CEO has a final word on the board.
“The defendant indicated that anybody the plaintiff disagrees with, she gets rid of because she plays dirty and is evil,” reads the papers.
Mohlala-Mulaudzi said Kula-Ameyaw ought to have known that the allegations contained in the letter were false, defamatory and injurious to her name and reputation.
She further said that the allegations were intended and understood to mean that she lacks leadership, is unprofessional, dishonest, unscrupulous and that she lacks integrity.
As a result of these statements, Mohlala-Mulaudzi said she had suered damages in the amount of R1.5-million, and has asked that the amount be paid with interest of 10.25%.
Mohlala-Mulaudzi confirmed issuing the summons against Kula-Ameyaw stating that she has been the subject of a series of coordinated defamatory allegations in the past month.
“I have been left with no option but to seek legal recourse and ask that you allow the court processes to run their course,” said Mohlala-Mulaudzi.
By Aubrey Mothombeni
I’m no drama queen, estate agency boss says
