Times Of Swaziland: MD’S DEATH EXPOSES BUILDING SOCIETY’S PROBLEMS

MD’S DEATH EXPOSES BUILDING SOCIETY’S PROBLEMS
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BY WELCOME DLAMINI on 05/07/2020 00:01:00


MBABANE – Tim Nhleko, the Managing Director of Swaziland Building Society
(SBS) who was laid to rest yesterday, leaves behind an institution that is
reportedly troubled.
The challenges are so serious that the Marketing Manager, Veli Dlamini, said the
information on the Society’s operations had been leaked to not only damage the
reputation of the institution but to also spite senior management of the
organisation, especially at a traumatic time of the loss of their managing
director.
He urged the Times SUNDAY not to publish this article and said if the story goes
ahead despite such advice, the Society reserved the legal right to institute
legal proceedings for defamation.
He said he hoped this would not be necessary.
He said issues of the Society remained confidential between the institution and
its employees.
Top of the ladder of the institution’s challenges is the exodus of senior
management and the resignation of a high-profile board member, allegedly because
they did not see eye-to-eye with Nhleko.
Among those who left under Nhleko’s leadership was Elizabeth Busisiwe Arden,
who held the position of General Manager for four years from 2012 to 2016.
She assumed the position from Nhleko when the latter was appointed MD following
the early retirement of Joseph Ndlangamandla.
Impeccable sources within the Society said Arden was the one earmarked to
succeed Nhleko in the position of Managing Director.
“When Nhleko was appointed MD in 2012, he was already 59 years old so it was
anticipated that he would retire at the age of 60 and Arden would take over.
That was the initial plan,” said one of the highly-placed sources.
However, when he reached 60, Nhleko is said to have been given a five-year
contract, something that caused rumbling among employees of the institution
because it was generally known that everyone was to leave upon reaching the
retirement age.
“When Arden was recruited from SwaziBank (now EswatiniBank) the plan was that
she would understudy Nhleko for a year and then take over the MD’s position
but that did not happen.”
CONTRACT
Arden is said to have resigned in 2016, with Nhleko still left with two years on
his contract.
In 2018, Nhleko was given a further three-year contract, which again caused
uproar among employees such that the Swaziland Union of Financial Institutions
and Allied Workers (SUFIAW) wrote to Board Chairman Kenneth Mbuli asking for
urgent talks.
Already, on April 11, 2017, SUFIAW had written to Mbuli asking for engagement on
a review of the retirement age.
“We have been approached by our members on the above matter and they advised
that they have noted with concern the Society’s uneven approach to retirement
age. They have noted that while they had assumed that perhaps the inconsistent
retirement age was a result of the fixed-term contract, this does not seem to be
the case as all other senior managers vacate office at the age of 60 years, but
that does not seem universal,” the union wrote.
The union informed the board chairman that in view of the current state of
affairs, they were demanding a review of the retirement age from 60 to 65 so as
to avoid one policy for some employees and another for others.
RETIRE
Nhleko was expected to retire next year.
Besides Arden, other managers who quit under Nhleko’s leadership include
Asakhe House Branch Manager Michael Mbetse, who has since joined the
newly-launched Status Capital Building Society where he holds the position of
General Manager.
Mbetse resigned in May 2020.
Mortgage Manager Jabulani Manana and Manager Short-Term Business M.Y Manana are
two others who recently left SBS.
There are also unconfirmed reports that one senior manager who was recently
recruited has also left the institution.
There is then the resignation of Winston Lomahoza – the Board Vice Chairman
who has also held the position of Chairman for quite some time.
The impeccable sources said what was most concerning with Lomahoza’s
resignation was that he even withdrew his investments with the institution.
“We don’t know what could have informed this decision but it has greatly
been of concern to us,” said one of the sources.
Dlamini, the Marketing Manager, refused to call the resignation of the senior
managers an ‘exodus’.
“Like any organisation, some of the managers mentioned above (without
mentioning their names) resigned on their own accord, others had their contracts
expiring and one of them is still with SBS,” he said
He stated that their departure had not affected the operations of SBS as they
have since been replaced by other experienced managers.
On the other hand, the board chairman, responding on the resignation of
Lomahoza, said he did not have mandate from him to disclose the reasons for his
decision to quit and the withdrawal of his investments.
“Further, these matters are between him and the board and they are
confidential,” Mbuli said.
CHALLENGES
Second on the list of challenges facing SBS is the decision to install a new
banking system, which was launched in October last year.
The system, which is known as Intellect and was reportedly procured from India,
has been a headache to the operations of the Society.
According to the highly-reliable sources, the system has not been friendly to
the local environment and was causing a number of challenges for customers,
especially with regard to bank balances and stop orders.
“Management decided to carry out a total overhaul of the banking system and
disregarded advice to gradually introduce Intellect by allowing it to function
alongside the old system until it was fully understood by everyone,” said
another of the sources.
They said compounding the situation was the resignation of the senior managers
who were supposed to be the ones teaching those below them how to operate it.
Dlamini confirmed the implementation of the new system and said ‘like all
systems there are teething problems which have since been resolved’.
DENIED
He denied the reports that customers’ bank accounts and stop orders had been
affected by the new system.
“Before the rollout, the system was subjected to high-level scrutiny by all
regulatory bodies, such as the Central Bank, to ensure that customer accounts
and information were protected,” he said.
He then issued a veiled threat to the Times SUNDAY: “We further wish to advise
that the system information is privileged and classified and any person –
including yourselves – who leak any information in respect of the SBS system
may compromise the Society and customer confidential information and may
accordingly be prosecuted.
“The nature of the confidentiality inherent in the banking sector cannot be
underscored enough, even in the present circumstance.”
Asked about the cost of the system, Dlamini said such information remained
confidential not only to SBS and its members but also to the general banking
sector in the country.
He said the reason for SBS to change the system was that over the passage of
time all systems become obsolete and organisations accordingly become obligated
to change to modern systems that enhance efficiencies.
He said system changes were necessary in the business environment.
“SBS is one such entity that has conformed to the dictates and changed working
environment,” he said.
The third challenge facing SBS is the delayed release of the institution’s
financials for the year ended March 31, 2020. Sources alleged that this was more
than a delay but an actual failure that has been caused mainly by the failure to
master the Intellect banking system.
“As we talk, PricewaterhouseCoopers is busy with the auditing and we are
eagerly await the report,” said one of the sources.
FAILED
Again, Dlamini refuted that the institution had failed to release the results
and blamed the delay on the COVID-19, further mentioning that an external audit
was still ongoing.
He said financial results are released once the external audit is completed and
the annual financials approved.
“We are all aware that audit commenced during the covid-19 lockdown and
auditors have been working remotely. These supervening elements have been
communicated to both our regulators and relevant stakeholders,” he said.
He said the audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers was being conducted for and on
behalf of SBS and upon finalisation PwC ‘will report only to SBS’. “The
management of the Society will not interfere with such a crucial and painstaking
process,” Dlamini said. Mbuli, the Board chairman, asked that responses
regarding the financials be responded to by management.