ICASA's CFO put on leave

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has put its CFO on 'gardening leave' until his contract runs out at the end of November because of issues with its 2010 financial statements.

Tubane Mosia, who earned a total of R835 302 last year, was sent home last month, but will continue to earn a salary until his contract runs out. He has been quietly replaced by acting CFO Thami Ndadana, who is tasked with sorting out the regulator's financial situation.

Mosia's departure from the regulator was revealed yesterday in minutes from a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee meeting, held earlier this month, during which the regulator briefed the labour and public enterprise committees.

During the meeting, it was disclosed that Mosia was “dismissed” because of his failure to properly handle the authority's accounts, which led to a qualified audit opinion in the 2010 financial year. The meeting was held earlier this month, but minutes only became available yesterday.

This is the first time public mention has been made of Mosia's apparent dismissal, which was linked to repeated issues raised by the auditor-general (AG) over the regulator's financial status.

However, ICASA's official position is that Mosia was not sacked, as the parties agreed his contract would not be renewed when it runs out in November, and he will remain on its payroll until then. This decision was reached last month, but not communicated as it is an “internal” matter, says ICASA.

In the year to March 2010, the regulator received a qualified audit report because the AG found there was no control over the recording of outstanding invoices, and no satisfactory audit procedures had been put in place.

The AG also found ICASA did not have a content management system in place to identify contracts, and irregular expenditure of R655 626 was incurred, because proper procurement procedures were not followed.

Fraudulent activities in ICASA's revenue section led to material losses of R195 522, said the AG. ICASA was also found to not have complied with Treasury regulations, and parts of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

Councillor Marcia Socikwa noted that ICASA had dismissed its CFO, because of repeated issues with the body's financial statements. She was responding to questions from Congress of the People (Cope) committee member Onel de Beer, who asked whether there were systems in place to prevent this sort of situation from happening again.

Socikwa conceded the regulator had battled to comply with regulations, and had not had proper controls in place. ICASA had to dismiss its CFO for “non-performance”, she told the committee.

The body hoped the current acting CFO, with the assistance of a special committee within the audit and risk committee and three accountants, would resolve the problems highlighted by the AG's report, said Socikwa.

According to ICASA's latest annual report, for the year to March 2010, the reason for its qualified audit is because the CEO and CFO failed “to perform basic accounting work and poor management”.

Themba Dlamini took over as CEO from acting head Montseng Mopeli last November. Mopeli was appointed temporarily after former head Karabo Motlana's three-year contract ran out last August. Motlana was in charge when ICASA received the 2010 qualified audit.

“Parliament and council are urged to take a closer look at the stewardship of finances within ICASA, not so much because of dishonesty, but because of indolence and incompetence that has now taken root. The finance function within ICASA is poorly led, managed and supervised which is the duty of the CEO and CFO,” states the report.

African National Congress committee member Mbuyiselo Jacobs said he was unsure sufficient measures had been put in place to stop the problem from happening again.

De Beer argued Socikwa's response was not acceptable and there seemed to be maladministration around ICASA's financial management. He added that the PFMA had been in place since 2007, but its systems were still not in place, and current office bearers' terms would end without anything having changed.

This morning, ICASA spokesman Paseka Maleka clarified that the former CFO had not been dismissed. “Instead his contract is coming to an end in November this year and will not be renewed on the basis of a qualification by the auditor-general for the past financial year,” says Maleka.

The parties agreed to a mutual separation, although he is still on ICASA's payroll until his contract runs out, says Maleka. “The authority did not see any need for an official announcement to be made, because it regarded this as an internal matter and the aim was to manage internal processes effectively and efficiently,” he says.

Maleka adds that there is no maladministration within the body. ICASA has and continues to put systems in place to deal with shortcomings, he says.

By the end of the month, ICASA could submit a report to the parliamentary committee covering its progress, said Socikwa.