Ousted Kelly Group director Mthunzi Mdwaba will have his say at disciplinary hearing on 22 September. Until then, sources say, he has been placed on paid leave.
Mdwaba was stripped of his directorship and his position as deputy CEO of the Kelly Group, a recruitment and technology training business, last week. He was also suspended from the company “pending an investigation”.
Three days later, however, group financial director Ferdie Pieterse sent a memo to staff saying the suspension had been “lifted with immediate effect pending due process”.
A source close to the situation has revealed that part of the due process will be the disciplinary hearing this month and he is on paid leave until then.
The dramatic turnaround follows TechCentral’s report that the suspension appeared to be related to a fall-out between Mdwaba and Kelly Group CEO Grenville Wilson.
It appears Wilson is planning to retire soon and the board had tipped Mdwaba as his successor.
TechCentral has been told that the two men had disagreed over how the company would be managed after Wilson left.
Mdwaba was expected to take the reins on 1 October.
Though the group has lifted the suspension, it has not yet reinstated Mdwaba to the board or to his position as deputy CEO. The source says Mdwaba has still not been given any information on what he has done wrong.
Wilson has previously refused to say why Mdwaba had been removed from the board, saying it was a board issue. He has since taken leave and is only expected to return to the office on 7 September.
Kelly Group chairman Moss Ngoasheng also won’t supply any details of what is happening with the leadership of the group. “I am a nonexecutive, and I don’t comment on leadership issues,” he says.
Mdwaba won’t comment on the situation either. However, he says he has been notified that his suspension has been lifted.
“But I am a little grey as to what that means,” he says. — Candice Jones, TechCentral
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