board in which, among others, made findings against it that it had failed to fulfill its responsibility by permitting payments without following proper legal processes by failing to stop an ‘unlawful’ R140 million contract.
However, the board said Gungubele’s allegations were unfounded and were damaging to their reputation and letters sent to him addressing these matters were not responded to and indication that the Minister was bent on firing them.
“On 28 July 2023, the board responded to the Minister’s letter informing him that the board had also sought legal advice from Senior Counsel on the KPMG report as well as the Minister’s recent correspondence.
“On 01 August 2023, the Board addressed a letter to the Minister advising him of FSS/ECC’s intention to switch off services by midnight on 31 July 2023, unless payment, that was subject to the finalisation of the KPMG.
Report was made. The Minister was reminded in the same letter that the Bank was not able to pay SASSA grants without the switching services.”
On Thursday afternoon Gungubele said he removed the board following the pre-emptive resignation of some Non-Executive Directors ahead of the Annual General Meeting of the Postbank citing the KPMG report.
“The removal of the Board follows damning allegations from a forensic investigation report by KPMG that the Postbank has continued to use service providers that have not been lawfully contracted.
“These service providers were being paid millions without valid contracts and proper procurement processes being followed. The forensic report recommended that the shareholder must act against the Board of Directors, a recommendation that was supported by Senior Counsel’s legal opinion, taking into account the details contained in the report,” said Gungubele.
