Richards Bay - The exodus of terrified senior staff at the Umhlathuze water board in Richards Bay continues, with the latest resignation being that of the entity's security manager, Karen Johnson.
Johnson's resignation follows that of the water board's interim chief executive officer, Dr Simo Lushaba.
Lushaba resigned last week, and it is believed that he feared for his life after the King Cetshwayo business forum stormed the entity's offices in central Richards Bay earlier this month.
The forum held staff hostage for about five hours, and they demanded that the entity should withdraw its decision not to award a R36m security tender to guard critical water pumps around the City of Umhlathuze.
The tender was allegedly won by Makadebona VIP protection services, but the entity opted to re-advertise it instead of awarding it to the black-owned security.
The business forum allegedly threatened that the company brought from the Richards Bay Industrial Development would not be allowed to carry out the work on an interim basis.
The entity confirmed to IOL this week that Lushaba has resigned, but it refuted that it was because of the invasion and hostage incident.
While the staff were surprised, Johnson tendered her resignation, and his last day is Friday (14 April 2023).
"Karen Johnson has followed Dr Lushaba and resigned as well.
"Everyone is now fearing for his or her life after that invasion by the violent business forum.
"What is interesting is that she will leave the same day there will be a briefing for the re-advertised tender," a source said.
The entity's spokesperson confirmed that Johnson resigned but denied that it was linked to the incident.
"Our Security Manager had long submitted her resignation notice, even before the Forum visited our premises. This was after she secured employment elsewhere in line with her career growth aspirations. It is unfortunate that her departure should be linked to a totally unrelated incident," Maphumulo said.
He also denied that they are facing an exodus of senior staff members.
"There is no senior management exodus at Mhlathuze Water.
"Out of a total of 33 managers, only two have resigned in recent times. This includes the Interim Chief Executive, whose contract expired in February 2023 but was extended by a further two months.
"Our operations have not been affected, and we continue to deliver potable water and waste water management services to all our clients," he stressed.
IOL has learnt that the issue of the tender may end up in court after Makadebona instructed its attorneys to challenge the non-awarding.
For now, the lawyers for Makadebona, Nokwazi Miya Attorneys, have written to the National Treasury about the matter.
The law firm said the National Treasury must play its oversight role over the Umhlathuze water board and the matter.
Maphumulo said they exercised their right not to award the tender.
"Our SCM policies and procedures make provision for us to not make an appointment in the event that we are unsatisfied with any single aspect of the tender process. It is for this reason that we took a decision to readvertise the tender in question."
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