After 15 years at the helm, eight internal charges, four forensic investigations and being implicated by the Special Investigating Unit, Joburg Property Company (JPC) CEO Helen Botes survives to see another day.
The senior executive, who is one of the longest-serving officials at the entity, has seen 10 executive mayors and board administrations come and go during her career.
Her contract — an annual salary of R3.4m and other perks — was extended in October for six months while the board searches for her replacement.
It has now emerged the six-month extension has been contested — with not only the opposition party in the city, the DA, crying foul, but the city’s group governance questioning the meeting that made the decision.
In a memo, seen by the Sunday Times, JPC maintains the board had the authority to constitute the meeting which, it says, was authorised by municipal manager Floyd Brink.
“It’s a portfolio that has the potential to transform, when I took the job that was the drive,” Botes told the Sunday Times this week. “I suppose I enjoy it, I enjoy the challenge — and the conflicts as well.
Some people can’t take it, the pressure that comes with challenges and conflicts. My role was to transform the property space
“Some people can’t take it, the pressure that comes with challenges and conflicts. My role was to transform the property space.”
Botes first Meade headlines when the city terminated a lease agreement over Proton House in 2020 with a company called Bertocure. The courts found in Bertocure’s favour, with the city having to pay a hefty R29m for its mistake.
In the same year, she was accused of flouting procurement processes during the Covid pandemic.
JPC failed to invite bids through an open tender process to deep clean its 32,000 properties and for the supply of sanitisers, granting four of its service providers a contract after Botes signed for deviation.
After two whistleblower reports, the board placed her on special leave until June 2020 and issued an intent to suspend in August 2022.
“To cope with the challenges, I really just stay focused. You can be making a lot of noise in the passage, but it will not distract me from what I have to do ... It’s not my destiny to live in a peaceful environment, otherwise I would’ve had a very peaceful time in the city.
“I don’t always block out the noise, I try to — it’s not always possible to do that, but I don’t go to sleep with it on my mind, neither do I get up with the drama that is usually not there unless it is placed by someone. Mine is to get up and face every day as a new challenge, a new vibe and to tackle it for what it is,” she said.
A forensic investigation found similarities in questions and invoice files between the four service providers that may have breached competition rules, and recommended the matter be referred to the Competition Commission.
In November 2022, the JPC board brought eight charges against Botes, which included the Bertocure settlement. She was also charged with misconduct; however, the board was found to be running parallel investigations.
An initial report, by KR Inc, found there might have been negligence on the part of the CEO that resulted in her approving an irregular procurement process. However, it was not possible to make conclusive findings against Botes as she did not fully participate in the investigation as a result of the disciplinary action that was taken against her.
She was accused of failing to provide responses to the questions posed during the investigation, and of failing to act with fidelity and honesty in the best interests of JPC.
A Mchunu Attorneys report into the disciplinary measures against Botes, commissioned in July 2023, highlighted that the board either had to elect to investigate the allegations or to proceed with the disciplinary inquiry, but not do both simultaneously.
“On whether or not Botes acted with fidelity and honesty, in the best interests of the city entity, the charge was found to be too broad, with no information and/or documentation provided as the basis for the charge, leaving the CEO in a prejudiced position, unable to defend herself.
“Our considered view is that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to successfully institute a disciplinary process against the CEO. The legal opinion concedes that the accusations and charges levelled against Botes demanded significant attention; however, the process was botched by the then board.
“In our view, all of the charges against the CEO are serious and certainly warranted a thorough investigation prior to the disciplinary process being instituted. There would be no sufficient grounds for the JPC board to institute a disciplinary process based on the charges,” read the report.
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