Mega boss challenges order to repay money
The CEO has said that he appealed against a court order for him to repay a R1,7-million golden handshake.
NELSPRUIT – The chief executive officer (CEO) of the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA) has appealed against a court order for him to repay a R1,7-million golden handshake.
Adv Boyce Mkhize was appointed CEO in December. In May, the Pretoria High Court ordered him to repay the money to Liberty Life medical scheme. He was paid the sum when he resigned as a trustee from the scheme’s board in 2011.
The matter was taken to court by the Council for Medical Schemes and Registrar of Medical Schemes which alleged that the payment was unlawful under the Medical Schemes Act. Mkhize was ordered by the court to pay the full amount back, as well as all parties’ legal costs.
He told Lowvelder last week that he had not repaid the money and had appealed against the order. He would not discuss the matter further, as it was sub judice.
Ms Pinky Phosa, MEC for economic development, environment and tourism, which administers the agency, said at the time that Mkhize, as a trustee, did not authorise the payment himself, and had not defrauded the scheme. “He never personally authorised any payment to himself,” she said. “We are therefore satisfied that this judgment does not raise issues of integrity or dishonesty on the part of the CEO,” she explained.
“Presently, Mkhize is doing a good job in turning things around at MEGA and the entity has now stabilised. We have confidence in him and his team to deliver on the agency’s mandate.”
