Botash reinstates Mphathi as Cabinet intervenes
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday November 24, 2017 18:11
His prompt reinstatement follows the intervention of the Cabinet after it was found that his firing was unlawful and unreasonable.
Mphathi confirmed yesterday in a telephone interview that he would return to work on December 1 as Botash CEO after a month of unemployment.
The Botash board, chaired by Ian Forbes fired Mphathi on October 31 reportedly for insubordination. Mphathi was fired without a hearing in what appears to be strained relations between him and Forbes.
“I was told I was being fired for insubordination as the board chairperson, Forbes insisted that I should have not fired Victoria Lekoma, Botash corporate affairs manager,” Mphathi explained in a recent interview.
Mphathi’s side of the story is that instead of firing Lekoma, he chose to suspend her and subsequently consulted the board about his decision. He then was puzzled that the case of insubordination was not allowed to stand against Lekoma, and instead the Board chose to fire him so that the Lekoma case falls flat.
Frustrated a month ago, after he was unceremoniously called from his holiday in Dubai, Mphathi has even contemplated taking his employer to court to seek redress.
“Look, when the Cabinet has spoken, no one can oppose it,” Mphathi triumphantly declared yesterday, indicating that anytime from December 1, he will be back to base.
He chose to be philosophical about the main lesson he learnt from his case.
'The truth will always prevail. Good will always prevails over evil.”
In his view, his own consistency tells its own story about who he is.
“I am going back to my position, and I will serve as if nothing has happened. It will also depend on how my principals conduct themselves after a month of absence from work,” he said, responding to a question on how he was going to deal with the situation after he was fired.
Mphathi says he has nothing to fear as he feels he had done nothing wrong.
Mphathi joined Botash in 2011 from the now defunct BCL Mine where he cut his teeth as a miner. He victoriously returns to the helm of an estimated P1.3 billion worth of operation whose major shareholders are the Botswana government and neighbouring South Africa-based Chlor-Alkali Holdings on a 50/50 basis.
After his departure, Mphathi’s management was accused of nepotism, favouritism and sheer disregard of ethics - charges that Mphathi dismissed vehemently. When contacted for comment yesterday about the reinstatement of Mphathi, Forbes would not speak, insisting that he was in a meeting.