Public Protector vs IDC Human Capital

A whistleblower’s damning allegations against the Industrial Development Corporation paint a picture of an organisation characterised by fear, retribution, bullying and disregard for employee rights. In a letter to IDC chief executive Mmakgoshi Lekhethe last month, Tebogo Vincent Modika, suspended for transgressing the IDC’s employment policies, accuses the company of abusing its powers and policies including the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, Public Finance Management Act and the Anti-Workplace Harassment Policy. “I find it apposite and much prudent to highlight the key and relevant provision of the Companies Act, which you are advised to consider in determining my escalation to you – Section 77(3) of the Companies Act, which imposes personal liability on directors for loss, damages or costs sustained by the company due to breaches of fiduciary duties, reckless trading, fraud or ultra vires act,” read the letter. Modika, who until his suspension was the company’s senior employee relations specialist, further accuses his boss, the IDC’s head of talent management and organisational effectiveness and law firm Werksman Attorneys, of unethical conduct in managing issues that led to his suspension. However, Modika, who is litigating against his employer, has repeatedly failed to overturn his suspension in both the CCMA and labour court. He has since appealed to the Constitutional Court for urgent intervention while running a parallel matter with the Public Protector. The question at the centre of the battle is whether Modika’s allegations are an accurate reflection of the IDC’s employee relations/work culture. Cynics and employees who spoke to the Mail & Guardian point to a trust deficit between staff and the organisation’s human capital division, which is one reason for the increase in number of disaffected employees running to a chapter 9 institution for arbitration of labour disputes. An IDC employee, who is also a shop steward in the Public Serva