Amplats and MTN duck culpability in Thabi Leoka scandal
Mining house Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and MTN SA have not taken responsibility for lapses in governance structures that did not pick up anomalies in Thabi Leoka’s CV before appointing her to their boards.
Leoka has resigned as a board member to attend to her health and allegations of fake qualifications, Amplats said on Monday.
“On her request, Thabi Leoka has resigned from her position as a nonexecutive director of the company ... with immediate effect in order to attend to her health and the questions she has been facing in relation to her academic qualifications,” Amplats said in a statement, without owning up to its own processes that did not pick up discrepancies in her CV.
Leoka also stepped down from the board of telecom giant MTN SA. Like Amplats, MTN said Leoka resigned for health reasons and to attend to the furore over her qualifications.
Business Day a week ago reported that Leoka, who also serves on the presidential economic advisory council, does not hold a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics (LSE) as she claims. The LSE has confirmed that she was not awarded a PhD in economics by the university.
Amplats and MTN have not responded to questions about how they missed this untruth in Leoka’s CV, and whether they verified her qualifications before appointing her.
The silence by Amplats and MTN is in stark contrast with the attitude of private healthcare group Netcare, which last week admitted to having turned a blind eye to a verification report it commissioned before appointing Leoka as a nonexecutive director in 2021.
The report indicated her highest qualification was a master’s degree.
“As is standard practice within Netcare, a background check was conducted. A report by an external specialist integrity assessment firm commissioned by Netcare and received in November 2021 listed Ms Leoka’s highest qualification as an MA and MSc,” said Charles Vikisi, general counsel and group secretary of Netcare.
“In hindsight, we recognise that we should have proactively inquired why the PhD qualification, as stated on her curriculum vitae, was not reflected in the report. Regrettably, this diligence was not exercised,” Vikisi said.
“Given the recent disclosures around the integrity of Ms Leoka’s academic qualifications, it is apparent Netcare could have and should have done more to verify the accuracy of her CV.”
The scandal has damaged the reputation and trust of the companies involved, as well as the image of corporate SA, which is still reeling from the demise of Steinhoff and the collapse of Tongaat Hulett into the arms of business rescue practitioners.
Updated: 22 January 2024
The story has been updated to include MTN information.
