Kaya 959 Reporter
Sipho Pityana who has been Axed by Absa says he is not backing down without a fight.
Pityana was axed as Absa’s lead independent director and chairman of the remuneration committee.
Pityana is taking the Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority (PA) to court, claiming it blocked his appointment as Absa chair.
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He recently joined Gugulethu Mfuphi on Kaya Biz to talk about his dismissal by the bank.
He spoke about why in his career he’s consistently chosen to be an independent non-executive director in boards of companies, and not an employee. He says he is against individuals who use their positions on boards to unlawfully remove people from boards who use their independence
“I am and advant advocate of a constitutional order that is characterised by the rule of law. Anything that falls outside of that, is an upfront on fundamental values that define who I am as a citizen of this country.
“When a bank conducts itself in an unlawful fashion, whether that is to the disadvantage of a person in Marubile or Magoebaskloof or a rural area, I feel I have a responsibility as a director on that board when it comes to my attention, to raise that objection as forcefully as I can.”
“I have a duty to myself, to the bank and to society to challenge that. I am outraged that the bank thinks that I am deserving to be punished, for chasing that step which is allowed for and is in the constitution. It’s unacceptable.”
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When Pityana was asked whether him taking a stand would result in him losing positions in other boards in which he sits, he spoke about principled leadership, and the importance of taking a stand on a given issue.
“For me positions that I take in life are about where my value proposition is, when my value set lives. Sometimes when you take on issues in life the consequences are much greater than what you prepare countenance for.
“But I think leadership is about that, leadership is about taking positions that people might not always agree with. Given where we are in cooperate South Africa with the Steinhoffs living large, it must be so that directors in those boards calculated whether they took a stand it might cost them positions in other boards. ” he said.
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