Pakamile Pongwana has resigned as CEO of communications regulator Icasa. This is after Pongwana was placed on “precautionary suspension” on 6 July.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, Icasa said Pongwana and the authority’s decision-making council had agreed to a “mutual separation”. It didn’t provide further details about the agreement.
Chief operating officer Willington Ngwepe will continue serving as acting CEO until a replacement for Pongwana has been found, Icasa said.
Pongwana had been CEO of the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal regulator since November 2013, and was facing an internal disciplinary hearing over unspecified charges.
Before joining Icasa, Pongwana was managing executive for regulatory affairs at Vodacom, a role he held for eight years. He is also a previous deputy director-general for telecoms policy at the department of communications.
Icasa did not provide the reasons for the precautionary suspension.
However, in late July, the City Press newspaper reported that two legal opinions provided to Icasa had found sufficient grounds to charge Pongwana and subject him to a disciplinary hearing for alleged sexual harassment of an employee.
He also allegedly “displayed gross insolence and insubordination, which are dismissable offences as they constitute misconduct”.
“This related to the ‘disrespectful, condescending and aggressive’ manner he treated Icasa council members,” the newspaper said.
It said it understood that Pongwana had proposed a separation settlement that would see him paid for the remainder of his contract, which was due to end in September 2018. — (c) 2017 NewsCentral Media