Telkom paid the controversial former MD of its international operations and subsidiaries, Motlatsi Nzeku, a R13m “retirement settlement” to leave the telecommunications operator.
The figure is contained in Telkom’s 2013 annual report, which was published on Friday.
The “settlement” includes severance pay, a short-term incentive, accrued leave and contributions to legal costs incurred in an arbitration dispute with Telkom. In total, he was paid R13,7m, which included a salary of R660 000.
Nzeku was fired by former Telkom group CEO Reuben September in 2009 for allegedly leaking internal Telkom documents to a Sunday newspaper. The R13m settlement was reached while Nombulelo Moholi was CEO.
Jeffrey Hedberg, who replaced September, was forced to rehire Nzeku after he won a private arbitration challenging his dismissal. He was brought back as MD of Telkom International. Before September fired him, he was group chief operating officer.
It’s well known that senior Telkom executives distrusted Nzeku and blamed him for being behind one or more dossiers that made allegations about poor corporate governance and corruption at the operator.
Nzeku joined Telkom in 1994 as a manager in internal auditing and he held several positions, including managing executive of customer service, general executive of procurement services and chief information officer. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media