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Property Practitioners watchdog charge CEO Mohlala-Mulaudzi with fraud and corruption
Board concerned with attempts to distract and blackmail chairperson Steven Ngubeni.
Suspended CEO of the Property Practitioner Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi poses for a photograph, 17 May 2022, in Rosebank, Johannesburg. Picture: Michel Bega
The Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) board has decided to charge and haul suspended boss Mamudupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi before a disciplinary inquiry for maladministration, misrepresentation, fraud and corruption.
PPRA Board member Pamela Makhubela said they will also report the alleged acts of criminality to relevant law enforcement agencies.
She said investigators managed to finalise the probe despite lack of cooperation from Mohlala-Mulaudzi and implicated parties.
“…based on the serious nature of allegations and corresponding findings pointed out by the investigation thus far the board has resolved to prefer charges against the CEO and those implicated,” Makhubela said.
The allegations related to irregular appointment of personnel and pension fund irregularities, with new evidence pointing to procurement irregularities, misrepresentation and fraud against the CEO coming to light during the investigation.
She said the PPRA Board received a whistle-blower report from the Public Service Commission in December 2021 and that in fairness, the CEO was given a chance to provide her version and dispel the allegations.
“The PSC report contains serious allegations requiring the board to investigate and, where necessary take appropriate action,” Makhubela said.
Due to the inadequate nature of the CEO’s response to the allegations, she said the board placed her on precautionary suspension in March pending the investigation.
She said the investigation was still ongoing and that the board has received a report from investigators decrying the failure to cooperate by implicated personnel, including the CEO.
Makhubela said the board also notes with concern the attempts to distract and blackmail the chairperson Steven Ngubeni.
This in reference to a complaint by MP Bantu Holomisa, who has asked for an investigation into Ngubeni allegedly having two different identity numbers and identities, one of which supposedly is under investigation for fraud.
In the letter addressed to Ramaphosa and the PSC, dated 30 June 2022, United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Holomisa claims an investigation had discovered that Ngubeni has two identity numbers.
Also Read: Property Practitioners watchdog chairperson’s alleged double identities under investigation
Ngubeni has vehemently denied the allegations, saying he will cooperate with any investigations as he has nothing to hide and that the fact that he changed his identity in 2013 was no secrete and has no criminal case as alluded to by the letter.
The chairperson has suggested that Mohlahla-Muladzi was behind a campaign to blackmail him to reinstate her.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) and president Cyril Ramaphosa have been requested to investigate the allegations against Ngubeni.
“It is was unfortunate that there are members of parliament that have decided to partake in the attack on the character of the chairperson without any convincing evidence at their disposal. We are also concerned that the attack is aimed at discrediting the board and the organisation as a whole,” Makhubela charged.
She said they suspected this was with the hope that the board would abandon its investigations on maladministration, fraud and corruption.
