City Power Board Chairperson lodges civil claim against former SAMWU officials
Chairperson of the Board of City Power, Reverend Frank Chikane has instituted legal action against Felix Nditsheni Radzilani and Ester Mtatyana for defamatory statements relating to false allegations against his spouse, Kagiso Chikane. Reverend Chikane and Mrs. Chikane are making claims for damages amounting to R500 000.00. They also demand for a written public apology. The claims are reparation for false allegations of impropriety levelled against him and his spouse.
Felix Nditshani Radzilani and Ester Mtatyana are the erstwhile regional executives of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) and employees of Pikitup Johannesburg SOC Ltd.
Both the defendants had written to the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Herman Mashaba, informing him that City Power Managing Director, Sicelo Xulu, had approved and awarded a tender - purported to be a project of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - to the spouse of the Chikane.
Chikane’s spouse, who has since retired, was a Stakeholder Relationship Manager at the CSIR and interacted with a number of state owned entities during the course of her duties on smart city strategies. City Power was one of the entities the CSIR interacted with. There was no tender awarded to the CSIR or Mrs Chikane by City Power. The allegations have no basis at all, and are meant to damage their reputation.
Chikane instituted a legal process with the following demands to the defendants:
- Payment of R250 000.00 to each of the plaintiffs, amounting to R500 000.00 in total
- A written public retraction and apology of the defamatory statements; and
- Payment for costs of the suit
The R500 000.00 lawsuit incurs an interest of 10.5% per annum from the date of service of the summons to date of payment.
The Sheriff of the Johannesburg High Court served the defendants with a summons on or about the 28 February and the 1 March 2017 respectively, which have informed the defendants of Chikane’s intention to institute legal action against them and claim relief for defamatory statements against him and his family.
The summons stipulated that should the defendants wish to dispute the legal action, they should file a motion with the Registrar of the High Court and serve to Chikane’s legal representatives within 10 days of receipt of the summons.
Failure by the defendants to file a motion with the Registrar of the Court to dispute the legal action by Chikane may compel the court to grant an adverse judgement against the defendants.
Chikane’s lawsuit, which seeks reparations of R250 000 apiece for both him and his spouse, is based on the damage the allegations have had on his reputation.
The lawsuit is also based on the insinuation the allegations have created that he has abused his role as Board Chairman to improperly award the purported contract to his spouse, wilfully abdicated his fiduciary duties as Board Chairperson, promoted nepotism within City Power and violated the Public Finance Management Act and City Power’s procurement processes.
“I can confirm that I have instructed my legal representatives to lodge a civil claim against the defendants for the defamatory and unfounded allegations they have been peddling against me and my family. These claims are not only irresponsible and reckless, but they are out of kilter with the values that I stand for and have further called my integrity into question.
It is time that we stood up and call out rumour-mongers and use the judiciary to curb this creeping practice of character assassination based on rumours and innuendo,” says Chikane.
Over and above the R500 000 claim for damages, the defendants will also be responsible for paying Chikane’s legal costs as well.
Statement issued by Rev Frank Chikane, Chairperson of the Board, City Power, 10 March 2017
