Mbereki says his decision to leave the union was a forced move following an alleged series of harassment and bullying levelled against the union's president, Martin Gabobake. It is said that Gabobake, who previously held the position of treasurer-general is using his power to settle past scores with those who might have "stepped on his toes" before he ascended to the helm of the union.
Mbereki handed in his resignation letter on Monday following a special national executive committee meeting held on Saturday. In his resignation letter dated March 22, 2025 seen by Mmegi, Mbereki states that “this follows a series of acts of harassment and bullying by the president Mr Martin Gabobake”.
“A plethora of these acts are stated in the letter addressed to the NEC that I sent through the office of the second deputy president. Following these acts outlined in the letter, Mr Gabobake has proceeded to now bypass my office and instruct my deputy general-secretary to carry out my office duties without my knowledge and consent,” Mbereki stated in the letter.
Mbereki further stated that there has been a series of communications to the structures authored by the deputy general-secretary without his knowledge, consent or instruction.
“Amongst these contraventions are issuing of NEC and NOB calls for meetings without my knowledge, consent or him being appointed to act in that capacity. Mr Gabobake has made my stay in office, frustrating and unsafe to the extent that I have no choice but to terminate my contract of employment,” he added.
Mbereki stated that it is evident that Gabobake, though his actions demonstrated the determination to remove him from office by all means including violation of the constitution and any existing labour law.
He referenced an instance in which the president privately investigated issues relating to his (Secretary General) past employment relationship with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment & Tourism.
“Subsequent to this action, he on the March 6, 2024 issued me with a show cause letter indicating his intentions to take disciplinary action against me,” he stated in an earlier letter addressed to the NEC.
He alleged that the president did all this even though he had no authority to act in this manner without the resolution of the NEC and or sighting provisions of the BOPEU Constitution.
Mebereki shed light into his dispute with Gabobake, which he said started when the latter was still the union’s treasurer General. He said that he differed and rejected some of Gabobake’s planned decisions. These include the decision to recruit Head of Finance, which ended Gabobake’s secondment to the position. Mebereki alleged that this angered Gabobake as he sabogated by the SG’s actions.
“The recruitment of Head of Finance and ending of the secondment angered Mr Gabobake whom upon my return from official trip outside country at the time confronted me in my office on the matter. He alleged that he has realised that I hated him and my intention was to sabotage him and I deliberately did not include his secondment issue on the NEC report so it does not get discussed and renewed,” he stated.
Another issue he highlighted was the president’s alleged decision to remove him (Mbereki) from the BPOPF Board and appointing himself. He said the president did this despite a resolution by the union’s National Governing Council 2024 that members of the NEC should not appoint themselves to any Boards but should rather appoint ordinary members to these boards for purposes of accountability.
“Good or bad this stands as a resolution of the congress and must be implemented as such. However Mr. Gabobake has vowed that such will not happen and it was ill advised. It is for this reason that in the resolutions that were sent to the structures, the matter does not appear. However in the report attached prepared but a private company that was engaged to make record of proceedings it does appear amongst the motions adopted,” Mbereki stated.
When contacted for comment on Monday through the union's spokesperson, Gabobake confirmed that indeed they have received a letter of termination of contract from the general-secretary.
However, Gabobake declined to discuss the issue further with Mmegi on the premise that it is internal.
"At this point it is important to clarify that this remains an internal matter within the Union, and as such there are limited details that can be shared at this stage," he said.
However, he indicated that the secretary-general has been released to attend the ongoing SADC Tripartite meeting in Zimbabwe. Furthermore, he stated that as the president, he has not yet had the opportunity to meet with Mbereki to discuss his termination of contract in detail.
For his part, Mbereki confirmed his resignation but said he was constrained to discuss the matter further.
