Former Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig has defended his business practices, following accusations of nepotism levelled against him in the media.
Over the weekend, media reports revealed that several former employees at Vodacom had made accusations against management at the telecoms giant. Telkom and Vodafone, shareholders at the time, reportedly commissioned a report to investigate the accusations.
The accusations made by the former employees implicate Knott-Craig in abusing his position as CEO to benefit his family.
According to the original Sunday Times article, the allegations claim Knott-Craig helped his son, Alan Knott-Craig Jr, with business ventures using Vodacom resources. He is also alleged to have awarded a multimillion-rand contract to a marketing and advertising company run by family members.
Vodacom has confirmed that a report was commissioned to investigate the allegations, among them being a charge of nepotism against the former CEO. However, the company has not released the contents of the report, conducted by prominent auditing firm KPMG.
“All 18 allegations were examined closely and two were deemed worthy of more detailed review. Through this independent process, both of these cases were reviewed to the satisfaction of Vodacom's shareholders, and in neither case was it deemed necessary to take any action against any individuals. All the recommendations made by this report were implemented well in advance of Vodacom's listing as a public company,” the company explained in a statement.
He says after his retirement he received a letter from Vodacom's chairman indicating that several accusations had been levelled against him, and that the board felt it necessary to investigate the claims. However, he says the report that followed exonerated him of any wrongdoing.
“After considering the report, the Vodacom Board has decided to close the matter,” he adds.
Despite the reassurances by the company, the Communications Workers Union has plans to force the company to reveal the report.
Media reports initially raised concerns that the document and its contents were not published to the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, a move which is required to deal with all questions around governance issues for listed companies.
However, Vodacom says the report shows that the company has followed all governance requirements, and the matter was settled before the company listed last year. “Vodacom takes all corporate governance issues extremely seriously and we regularly review our policies and procedures to ensure adherence to the highest standards of business integrity, ethical values and professionalism.”
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