A bruising battle in the corridors of power at Robben Island Museum (RIM) has aired allegations of irregular spending, fraud and misconduct at the World Heritage Site.
The museum’s suspended CFO hauled the chair of council and acting CEO to the high court in Cape Town, seeking urgent protection under the Protected Disclosures Act. The act protects whistle-blowers from retaliation or occupational detriment after making a disclosure.
Karabo Ramela, the suspended CFO who stands accused of misrepresenting his professional credentials, described an island under siege from within in a disclosure submitted in February to sports, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie.
In it he cited the irregular procurement of a boat for R90m and staff who “siphoned” close to R800,000 from ticket sales.
“[Ramela] pointed out that at the initial council meeting which he attended following his acting appointment in January 2023, RIM received a letter from the National Treasury reflecting the outcome of an application that RIM had submitted to the Treasury to condone the irregular procurement of a boat estimated at R90m incurred in the financial year 2019/2020 as a result of evaluating [the] bid without the application of the 90/10 preference point system,” read the judgment handed down this week by judge James Lekhuleni.
“National Treasury declined RIM’s condonation application mainly because RIM did not conduct a determination test or investigation prescribed by the National Treasury. The determination test is an internal investigative report presenting findings on irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure and processes recommendations of the council to consider and pass a resolution thereon.”
National Treasury declined RIM’s condonation application mainly because RIM did not conduct a determination test or investigation prescribed by the National Treasury. The determination test is an internal investigative report presenting findings on irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure and processes recommendations of the council to consider and pass a resolution thereon.
Ramela told the court that he stumbled on information implicating senior staff in the wrongdoing, which resulted in disciplinary hearings. He was the key witness.
Ramela said another investigation had found “thousands of cases of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in RIM”.
“[Ramela] asserted that given the security situation in South Africa today, he thought it prudent to be proactive in deposing an affidavit at the SA Police Service to ensure that precautionary steps are taken by the authorities to make certain he executes his duties without any fear of harm or intimidation,” the judgment reads.
He deposed the affidavit in December “after noting several concerning incidents and occupational hazards in his endeavours to clean up corruption within RIM”. In February, he consulted his lawyer to deliver a protected disclosure to McKenzie about “the transgression he uncovered”.
“[Ramela] complained, among others, of tickets alleged fraud reported at RIM in April 2024,” the judgment reads. “[He] stated that ticket money meant for RIM was being diverted and siphoned by complicit RIM employees to different accounts.”
SNG Grant Thornton was appointed to probe the allegations.
“The investigation was on the alleged fraudulent incident relating to the reusing of and rescheduling tickets on the ticket system. The investigation report by SNG Grant Thornton found that the scanning and reusing of tickets was linked to 1,982 tickets, resulting in revenue loss for RIM of R725,860,” the judgment reads.
Ramela also told the minister about a forensic investigation into private tours in addition to allegations of “poor management and collusion within RIM on boat operations” to the board. Payments for bookings made by private tours were allegedly deposited in different bank accounts.
The board opposed Ramela’s application — arguing he had not proved that his disclosure was protected as the information he provided was already subject to external investigation and thus in the public domain.
The board said RIM placed Ramela on precautionary suspension on an allegation of “serious misconduct”.
“The allegations against [Ramela], among others, pertained to fraudulent misrepresentation of [his] profession credentials. The notice also alleged that [he] is not a chartered accountant in good standing registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants ... in that [he] last held the designation in 2017 despite listing such credentials in official documents.”
The board told the court that RIM was also taking Ramela to task for allegedly absconding from work.
Ramela’s arguments failed to persuade Lekhuleni.
The judge said “measures” had been put in place to protect Ramela’s rights but he “proceeded with this application”.
“In so doing, [he] claims to have experienced occupational detriment, notwithstanding that the allegations are not supported by evidence. In my view, the applicant suffered no occupational detriment in this matter,” said Lekhuleni. He dismissed the application and ordered Ramela to pay legal costs.
Ramela’s lawyer, Steward Masela, said: “We have filed an appeal to the court. At this time, we would prefer for that process to be ventilated first there before we can make any further comments.”
Prof Saths Cooper, chair of the RIM council, confirmed that Ramela was suspended and added that his disciplinary hearing started on Wednesday.
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